NAPLES, ITALY—La Brújula Verde reports that restoration work has been completed on a ceiling fresco that once adorned a banquet hall in the Casa con Pacificio, or House with Bakery, in Pompeii’s Regio IX. Decorative fragments of the ceiling, which depict the union of the god Dionysus and Ariadne, were first examined and reunited in the lab. When conservators were able to determine the original position of the fragments, the images were incorporated into a modular reconstruction of the curved, vaulted ceiling that will allow future researchers to continue the work as additional fresco fragments are identified. So far, conservators have identified fragments of a large central panel showing Dionysus reclining on a chariot facing Ariadne, who plays a harp. This scene was surrounded by images of small shrines, decorative borders, garlands, theatrical masks, winged genii, and allegorical representations of the seasons. To read about frescoes depicting the wild rites of the wine god that were uncovered in another dining room in Regio IX, go to "Pompeii's House of Dionysian Delights."
