Fresco, Pompeii

Framed vignette painted in fresco on a green wall. AD 65-75

Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. In this image, Cupid reveals the contents of a gilded box to a seated woman. Found on 12 October 1829 in the House of Meleager, Pompeii. Probably given by King Ferdinand II of Naples to the British ambassador Sir William Temple, who gave another painting from the same house to the British Museum in 1856.

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