Roman fragment, 1st-2nd c. AD. "Nymph" Fresco painting. Size: 52 x 40 cm; 63 x 50 x 7 cm. (frame). A young woman of stylized figure adopts a graceful gesture, as if she was going to undertake a dance step. The ribbons wrapped around the long dress emphasize the soft feminine curves and the ethereal condition of her body. This fresco painting has similarities to the so-called "third Pompeian style," which developed during the first century A.D. While the "second style" (developed in the first century B.C.) was dominated by architectural recreation, as in the beautiful ensemble of the House of the Mysteries in Pompeii, the "third style" was characterized by an emphasis on isolated human figures, although not without detriment to the decorative element and the more fanciful architectural elements. Normally, these isolated figures represented allegories or mythological figures. Roman decorative painting, used as a covering for stucco-covered walls, began to develop from the 1st century B.C. and continued to evolve until the end of the empire. Thanks to the excellent preservation of the cities buried by the lava of Vesuvius, the "four Pompeian styles", which covered the pictorial evolution of the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire, could be delimited. The techniques used were mainly fresco, stucco and encaustic. In Pompeii and Herculaneum, fresco painting was applied on the wall while it was still wet, so the colors penetrated deeply into it. The technique of false fresco was also used, which consisted of applying the colors diluted in lime on the dry wall. Dimensions 52 x 40 cm; 63 x 50 x 7 cm. (frame).