The city of Pompeii, founded in the sixth century BC at the foot of Vesuvius, was completely buried during the eruption in 79 AD The city rediscovered by accident in the seventeenth century excavations executed a century later reveal a flourishing city. The frescoes discoveries extend over a period from the third century BC to the eruption.
In 1882 the German archaeologist Auguste Mau distributes Pompeian paintings in four styles and although this regulatory system is still debated, there is a classification used to qualify other frescoes of the Roman Empire.
First Pompeian style: style inlay also called for the relief decoration is made from polychrome stucco. Some features: wall divided into three parts, not figurative elements, many columns and cornices of Ionic style.
Second Pompeian style (to -90 to -20 BC): it has a break because the relief is no longer but stucco painted in trompe l'oeil. Some features: architectural compositions illusionists with backgrounds composed of cities, the columns are more slender.
Third Pompeian style (-20 to reign of Claudius): also called ornamental style. Reaction against the illusionism and trompe-l'oeil style before. Some features: simple decorations, introduction of large panels with mythological scenes and idyllic, a more impressionistic painting technique.
4th Pompeian style (the reign of Claudius to the disappearance of Pompeii): also called fantastic style. Back to architectural perspectives and illusionism. Some features: exuberant decoration, gilt candelabra and relief stucco, colors trenches, mixing mythological pictorial themes, naturalistic portraits.