Duplicating Drapery: Examining Painted Imitations of Hanging Textiles in Roman Italic Contexts

Abstract

Within Pompeian-influenced Roman mural decoration, the motif of the hanging textile was consistently popular from the Second Style through to the Fourth Style. The following work is the result of the analysis of a catalogue of 42 examples of painted imitations of curtains, tapestries, and drapes within primarily Italic religious and domestic contexts. Following a discussion on the production of physical textiles and the state of modern scholarship on painted imitations, the main body of work is comprised of the comparison of the two subsets of imitation curtains, i.e. realistic and stylised examples, among their grouping. When analysed both separately and as a whole, the catalogue produces meaningful trends in pigment colour, decorative elements, as well as placement and function within the overall scheme of their respective walls. This study subsequently focuses on the settings in which textile imitations are found, particularly within the domestic contexts of Pompeii and Herculaneum.