POMPEII, ITALY—Reuters reports that Louis Autin and Eloïse Letellier-Taillefer of Sorbonne University and Marie-Adeline Le Guennec of Quebec University examined the walls of a corridor connecting Pompeii’s theaters to the Via Stabiana with Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). The multiple lighting angles of this computational photography method revealed scratches in the plaster that were invisible to the naked eye, and led to the identification of an additional 79 inscriptions in the plaster, which has been exposed to the elements since the corridor was excavated more than 230 years ago. The newly discovered inscriptions include confessions, insults, farewells, an image of two gladiators fighting, and a declaration of love. For more on graffiti in the ancient city, go to "Digging Deeper into Pompeii's Past: Communication."
