Life in the Roman world of Nero and St. Paul (1910) (14774151764)

Identifier: lifeinromanworld00tuck (find matches)
Title: Life in the Roman world of Nero and St. Paul
Year: 1910 (1910s)
Authors: Tucker, T. G. (Thomas George), 1859-1946
Subjects: Church history
Publisher: London : Macmillan
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto



Text Appearing Before Image:
ctures of mythological, architectural, andother subjects worked in bright colours upon darkenedstucco. To our own taste these colours — red, yellow,bluish-green, and others — as seen at Pompeii, areoften excessively crude and badly harmonised. Butwhile it is true that the ancients appear to have beenactually somewhat deficient in colour-sense, it mustbe borne in mind that many of the Pompeian houseswere decorated by journeymen rather than by artists,and, above all, full allowance must be made for thecomparatively subdued light in which most of thepaintings would be seen. The hall might also containstatuary placed against the walls or against thesupporting pillars, where these existed. At thefarther end from the entrance you will perceive toright and left two large recesses or bays, generallywith pilasters on either side. These wings wereutilised for a variety of purposes. One of themmight occasionally serve for a smaller dining-room,or it might hold presses and cupboards. In noble
Text Appearing After Image:
iSi 152 LIFE IX THE ROMAN WORLD chap. houses one of them would contain certain familypossessions of which the occupants were especiallyproud. These were the effigies of distinguished an-cestors, which served as a family-tree represented ina highly objective form. At our chosen date therewould be a series of portrait busts or else of portraitmedalhons, in rehef or painted, while in specialreceptacles, labelled underneath with name and rank,were kept life-like wax masks of the line of distin-guished persons, which could be brought out andcarried in procession at the funeral of a member ofthe family. Though there was no College of Heraldsin antiquity, it was commonly quite possible for awealthy parvenu to get a pedigree invented for him.It is true that by use and wont the right of effigieswas confined to those families which had held thehigher offices of state, but there was no specific lawon the subject, and the Roman nouveau riche couldact exactly like his modern representative in secu