“Highly valuable” frescoes discovered during excavations in Pompeii

Splendid frescoes representing, among other things, a striking mythological scene have been discovered in Pompeii, those responsible for the archaeological site located near Naples, in southern Italy, announced on Friday. It was restoration and excavation work that allowed “the discovery of these frescoes of great value” in and around the House of Leda, one of the residences of the ancient city of Pompeii, destroyed and buried under ashes in the year 79 by the eruption of Vesuvius.

The most striking is undoubtedly the one representing the mythological scene depicting Phrixos and his twin Hellé fleeing their stepmother Ino on the ram with the Golden Fleece. Phrixos, perched on the rearing ram, helplessly witnesses the fall of his unfortunate sister Hellé into the waters which they fly over on their mounts.

This “fresco which shows us two fugitives at sea from ancient Greece”, in the words of the director of Pompeii Gabriel Zuchtriegel, appears like a painting with its frame on a predominantly golden yellow wall decorated with delicate decorations.

Among the other frescoes discovered are still lifes and portraits of women, particularly in medallions. The current excavations at the Maison de Léda aim to reconstruct its complete plan and to collect sufficient information to determine the main rooms of two other residences located to the north and south of it.

Cleaning operations on the frescoes are underway to remove volcanic ash and consolidate them before moving on to the restoration phase. The volcanic ash spewed 2,000 years ago by Vesuvius sedimented on most of the homes of Pompeii, which allowed them to be almost completely preserved, as did many of the bodies of the 3,000 deaths caused by the catastrophe.

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Pompeii, the second most visited tourist site in Italy after the Colosseum in Rome, covers a total area of ​​approximately 22 hectares, a third of which is still buried under ashes.