Archeologists Uncover Frescoes of ‘Vibrant Peacocks and Masks’ at Villa di Poppea Outside Naples

Archeologists have begun to uncover frescoes in the Hall of the Mask and the Peacock at the Villa di Poppaea at Oplontis, near Torre Annunziata, just outside Naples. Their discovery is part of an ongoing excavation and renovation project that began nearly a year ago, according to a release by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

These recently recovered frescoes, done in the Second Style, reveal the Hall’s “true dimensions and decorative richness” and give the “first glimpses of exquisite frescoes, including vibrant peacocks and masks,” per the release.

Built during the middle of the first century BCE, the villa is believed to have been the residence Poppaea Sabina, Nero’s second wife. It was known for its high level of decoration, as confirmed by these recovered frescoes, and for its views of the Bay of Naples. The villa was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

The newly discovered imagery includes “a complete figure of a peahen, mirroring the male specimen found on the southern portion of the same wall, and several fragments depicting a stage mask attributable to a character from the Atellan Comedy.” The latter find is notable because other fragments in the room have dealt with tragedies.

Additionally, the excavation team was also able to determine the location of trees that once lined the garden as part of a “a precise ornamental scheme that doubled the colonnade of the southern portico.” This was done via a casting technique that revealed their imprints.

Four new rooms, including “an apsidal room likely part of the thermal baths,” were also discovered during the recent excavation, raising the total to 103 rooms in the villa.

“Despite the traces present and the interpretative efforts made at the time of the first excavations, the true course of this and nearby environments remained many uncertainties until today that the current excavation work will be able to clarify,” Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said in a statement, “as well as bringing to light new portions decorated with extraordinary details and colors, some previews of which we can already admire.”