THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: GALLERIA 167: The Black Room: Late First Century B. C.

Speranza

This reconstruction of a room from the villa of Agrippa Postumus at Boscotrecase incorporates surviving panels from the original walls. They must have been painted by artists working for the imperial household during renovations after 11 B.C.
Compared to the paintings found at Boscoreale (see Gallery 165), these panels reflect a new and different style, known as Third Style, with a taste for insubstantial, delicate forms set against a flat, monochrome surface and including Egyptianizing motifs and medallions with portraits of members of the imperial family.