Archaeologists working at the Villa di Poppea in Oplontis, near Pompeii, have uncovered vivid new frescoes and extended parts of the ancient villa believed to date to the mid-1st century BCE. The discoveries form part of ongoing excavation and conservation work in the western sector of the site, and are beginning to reveal previously hidden aspects of this luxurious Roman residence.
The latest work has brought to light richly coloured wall paintings in what excavators have named the Hall of the Peacock. Among the new finds is a near-complete fresco of a peahen, complementing an earlier peacock motif on the opposite wall. These bird figures have symbolic associations with prestige and refinement, most likely chosen for that reason. In addition to the avian imagery, fragments of a theatrical mask have also been uncovered. Scholars link this mask to the character Pappus from ancient Atellan comedy, suggesting a blend of cultured and playful themes in the villa’s decoration.
Work in the villa has also identified four previously unknown rooms, bringing the total known spaces beyond the original 99, and one of these new areas may have formed part of an attached thermal bath complex. The broader excavation has revealed plastered walls, painted vaults, stuccoes and mosaic floors, all undergoing careful restoration to recover colours that include the prized Egyptian blue pigment.
Garden layout also enlightening
The project has also produced casts of tree roots from the villa’s ancient gardens. These impressions show that trees, probably olives or lemons, were planted in a formal scheme aligned with the villa’s colonnades.
The Villa di Poppea, long associated with Poppaea Sabina, the second wife of Emperor Nero, lay under the ash of the 79AD Mount Vesuvius eruption. It has since yielded extraordinary evidence of Roman domestic luxury and artistic achievement. The new fresco discoveries will be published in the Archaeological Park of Pompeii’s e-journal.
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