Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday 
"[The Horai] adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold-filleted Horai wear themselves."
Homeric Hymn 6
http://ancient-anatolia.blogspot.com/2011/07/aphrodite-of-mount-ida.html
@antiquidons @mythology
#DayOfAphrodite #mythology #GreekRomanArt #FrescoFriday
Gathering flowers to add your cornucopia is clearly the very best way to enjoy a spring day. This fresco fragment is often identified as Flora and was found in the Villa of Ariadne in Stabiae. Now held in the MAN Napoli.
While the chill of autumn is in the air over in the Antipodes, we long for the spring of our neighbours in the northern realms.
A fragmentary Roman peacock wallpainting from Caerwent in Wales. I am currently reading a book on animal circulation in the Mediterranean and it has a chapter on peacocks. This peacock is from late 3rd century AD and excavated in the 1980s. #FrescoFriday
This #FrescoFriday we journey to the heart of Pompeii and a recently discovered fresco from Block 10 in Regio IX. This gorgeous figure is thought to be an allegorical representation of Agriculture, coming complete, as she does with a plough and some deliciously ripe fruits.
The fact that Pompeii continues to offer archaeologists and historians new insights even after so many years of exploration of the site is truly astonishing. We have so much to learn and so much to appreciate about the role of art in the lives of the residents in Pompeii.
Pompeii was a prosperous but not overly large town and it holds up the possibility of just how grand the designs and artistry of other places in the Roman world may have been.
It's the Day of #Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 
I am travelling again, be kind, gentle guide Lord Hermes 
"Argeiphontes [Hermes], Son of Zeus and Maia, messenger of the blessed gods, bearer of the golden rod, giver of good things, be favourable and help us, you and Hestia, the worshipful and dear."
Homeric Hymn 29 to #Hestia
@mythology @antiquidons
#DayOfHermes #Mythology #GreekRomanArt #FrescoFriday
The Etruscan Tomb of the Blue Demons has images of snakes with demons with blue skin. I was in the conference room when an American scholars suggested that the colour came from intentional snake bites. This view can be found in Hostetler 2007. #FrescoFriday
Reference: Kristin Lee Hostetler, "Serpent Iconography," in Etruscan Studies 10, no. 16 (2007): 203.
An idyllic landscape scene from the Casa del Frutteto (House of the Orchard) reveals a harbour-side with the figures on the shore seemingly signalling to the vessel in the distance. The composition and sense of perspective are beautiful and you can almost feel the summer glow!
Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday
"Her [#Aphrodite] who restrains the bloody hands of rough Mars [#Ares], who brings peace to warring nations and holds plenty in her rich horn, mild goddess."
Seneca, Medea 62
@antiquidons @mythology
#DayOfAphrodite #mythology #GreekRomanArt #FrescoFriday
A flourishing culture of writing and engagement with the written word is central to this #FrescoFriday offering. From the Villa di Guilia Felice, Pompeii, this fresco is thought to depict Terentius Neo and his wife (name unknown). Neo holds a scroll while his wife who holds a stylus and writing tablet. The piece is now held at the MAN Napoli.
This #FrescoFriday we travel to the House of the Golden Bracelet in Pompeii to soak up the glorious detail of some of the panels that make up the Garden Room. The registers reveal a feast for the eyes with birds, theatrical masks, and lush foliage all competing for our attention.
Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday
"She lay down at his side and conceived #Eros, who partly because he is naturally a lover of the beautiful, and because #Aphrodite is herself beautiful, and also because he was born on her birthday, is her follower and attendant."
Plato, Symposium 178
@antiquidons @mythology
#DayOfAphrodite #mythology #GreekRomanArt #FrescoFriday
Hard to go past the newly revealed fresco from Pompeii this #FrescoFriday. The lifesize scene shows a procession of Dionysius and this photo glorious frames a dancing maenad between two columns. The stunning scene is a feast of red hues!
The beautiful blue of this fresco from Camulodunum draws our eye this #FrescoFriday. While much of the panel is modern reconstruction, you can still caught enough of the original blue between the warriors (thought to be gladiators).
We’re gearing up for an exciting weekend! These superb dancers from the fresco from the villa of Cicero in Pompeii capture our #FrescoFriday mood perfectly 
It’s #FrescoFriday and what better way to usher in the weekend than by having a banquet! This fresco from Pompeii shows a good old feast in progress. We’re hoping the central figure at the front is demanding a refill 
Celebrate the end of the week right with a platter of delicious foods, a sparky attitude, a jaunty wreath, and some good old fabric flourish! This figure is from the recently discovered private bathhouse complex at Pompeii!
#FrescoFriday in ancient Pompeii means it’s time to whip out your dancing shoes or figure out who’s hosting the dinner party. Could it be an all lady affair? This fresco certainly suggests so as there’s no gentlemen in sight.
It was fair to say that Clodia had absolutely no interest in what had happened to Varus’ legions, but poor Marcus wasn’t picking up what she was putting down.
Hera and Zeus decide to make a go of things with a wedding. Let’s not ruin the magic of their special day by telling them just how things are going to turn out!
May your festive season brim with Saturnalian delights and a good dose of fun and games. Let’s hope it doesn’t all take a turn like this riot in the amphitheatre at Pompeii which led to the closure of the amphitheatre in 59 CE!
