The American Council of Learned Societies has announced the release of Oplontis Villa A (“of Poppaea”) at Torre Annunziata, Italy (50 B.C.-A.D. 79). Volume 2: The Decorations: Painting, Stucco, Pavements, Sculptures in September of 2019.
This Open Access book presents 24 chapters by 19 scholars with specializations ranging from art history to chemistry. It is an unusually large volume of 660,000 words and nearly 3,000 images, its size made possible by the e-publication platform Fulcrum, from the University of Michigan Press. John Clarke, professor of art history and classical archaeology and UT alumna Nayla Muntasser (Ph.D. in Art History, 2003), managing editor of Oplontis Project publications, worked over a period of four years to edit this volume.
Oplontis Villa A is a large Roman villa near Pompeii buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79 and recovered in excavations beginning in 1964. Because of the exceptional quality of the decorations it carries the designation as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site.
To learn more about the ACLS HEB Oplontis E-Book Series, click on the video below for Clarke and architect Timothy Liddell's presentation of Volumes 1 and 2 at the Archaeological Institute of America's annual meeting in Washington DC.