Maria Barosso Research Paper

The murals on the second floor of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology are scaled watercolor replications of the those painted on the walls of the so-called Villa of the Mysteries in Italy. They were commissioned by Francis W. Kelsey in 1924 to preserve the amazing images of the frescoes from continuing deterioration and were re-created by Maria Barosso, an Italian artist, over the course of two years. The original images were first painted on the walls of a Roman villa outside of Pompeii and ultimately affected by the infamous eruption of Mount Vesuvius. As they were created near the beginning of the first century, what the murals depict, or why they were created is relatively unknown. There are theories, of course, but Italy today is much different than it was nearly two thousand years ago, so no one knows for certain. The most believed theory is that each panel of the artwork depicts each stage in a bridal ritual for the cult of Dionysus. Although we do not know much about the significance of the frescoes, they do display images of daily and formal dress for Roman women of the time. …show more content…
It was expected that women would dress modestly, but wealthy women were allowed and expected to show their wealth through their clothing and adornments. During the Punic Wars the Oppian Law was created. This law required citizens to give up most of their wealth in forms of jewelry or decorations, as well as limiting the opulence that women could display (basically none) to help pay for the war. Well after the war was over and the debts from it payed off, the people of Rome contested the law, asking for its repeal. Cato the elder, a consul, was much against the repeal and had the support of many tribunes, but Lucius Valerius, a tribune, spoke in favor of repealing the law and allowing women to dress for their