These curriculum materials explore the cultural and artistic life in Pompeii and other towns around the Bay of Naples in the centuries leading up to the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79. Two works of art, the mosaic Plato’s Academy (1st century BC–1st century AD) and the fresco Garden Scene (1st century BC–1st century AD), are examples of the embellishments applied to the gardens and interiors of Pompeian villas. A marble sculpture of the goddess Aphrodite from the early first century reflects the Roman interest in Greek mythology, art forms, and styles. And a painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, A Sculpture Gallery (1874), depicts the artist and.
