Image Details

Jewish Quarter Excavations/Hillel Geva and Avital Zitronblat

Excavations of a lavish first-century C.E. house in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem revealed exquisitely painted frescoes that mimicked artistic styles popular in Pompeii and other Roman cities. In the Jerusalem frescoe shown here, an ornately painted architectural frame surrounds a large, open monochromatic canvas. But whereas the Roman artists of Pompeii included a human figure in the center of each panel, the Jewish painters of Jerusalem omitted this figurative decoration.