fresco

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No, That's Not an Ancient Pizza
No, That's Not an Ancient Pizza

No, That's Not an Ancient Pizza

2K-year-old Pompeii fresco looks like pizza, but the ingredients weren't around at the time

(Newser) - A still-life fresco discovered recently in Pompeii looks like it depicts a pizza, but it doesn't, experts at the archaeological site said Tuesday. They noted that key ingredients needed to make Italy's iconic dish—tomatoes and mozzarella—were not available when the fresco was painted some 2,000...

This Pompeii Home Stands Out From the Rest

House of the Vettii fully reopens to public after 20 years of restoration work

(Newser) - Two men freed from enslavement came to live a life of luxury in ancient Pompeii. Now their ornate home, dubbed "Pompeii's Sistine Chapel," has fully opened to the public for the first time in 20 years. The House of the Vettii—built in the second century BC,...

'Harebrained Scheme' Involving Diego Rivera Mural Goes Bust

San Francisco Art Institute wants to dump $50M piece to offset debt

(Newser) - A 1931 mural created by Mexican painter Diego Rivera at the San Francisco Art Institute was supposed to be sold off to knock off much of the school's debt, a decision that outraged many in the local community. "The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a...

In Pompeii Bedroom, 'Explicit Sensuality'

Leda is shown being impregnated by god in swan form in newly uncovered fresco

(Newser) - Archaeologists have found a fresco in an ancient Pompeii bedroom that depicts a sensual scene of the Roman god Jupiter, disguised as a swan, and a legendary queen of Sparta from Greek mythology. The figure of Leda being impregnated by the god in swan form was a fairly common home...

Pompeii's Latest Woe: Thieves
 Pompeii's Latest Woe: Thieves 

Pompeii's Latest Woe: Thieves

Now a fresco has been stolen from the ancient site

(Newser) - The problems in Pompeii keep piling up—and crumbling down. Just weeks after portions of two of its structures collapsed under heavy rainfall, the ancient city has become the victim of theft, Reuters reports. A custodian discovered that thieves had last Wednesday taken an eight-inch fragment from a fresco showing...

Botched Fresco Restorer: Pay Up
 Botched Fresco 
 Restorer: Pay Up 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Botched Fresco Restorer: Pay Up

Image has brought church $2.6K in donations

(Newser) - Spain's botched restoration of a fresco of Jesus has developed quite a fan base —and it's brought in $2,600 in donations for the church that houses it. Now, the elderly woman who created the monstrosity wants to cash in, NPR reports: She's asking the church...

Botched Restoration Luring Scads of Tourists

Bizarre Jesus even gets Twitter profile

(Newser) - The astoundingly botched "restoration" of a 19th-century Spanish fresco featuring Christ has become a hit with tourists—and now even has its own Twitter account ("once a handsome fresco, now a hedgehog," guffaws the parody profile). The horrible paint job by a well-intentioned elderly parishioner at a...

Parishioner Carries Out 'Worst Restoration Ever'

Fresco turned into 'crayon sketch of hairy monkey'

(Newser) - A well-meaning elderly parishioner in Spain who decided to restore a painting in her local church turned a prized fresco of Jesus into what the BBC' s correspondent describes as a "crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic." The Elias Garcia Martinez fresco had...

Da Vinci to Be Decoded With Neutron Beam

Expert from bestseller may find masterpiece in Florentine wall

(Newser) - An art diagnostician so inventive that he was mentioned in The Da Vinci Code—the only real-life character in the book—will beam neutrons at a wall of Florence’s famous town hall next month, hoping to uncover a hidden Leonardo fresco. Maurizio Seracini has been waiting three decades to...

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