MADISON, WI.- The Chazen Museum of Art presents In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside - Villas of the Roman Elite, on view through June 3, 2007 at the Brittingham Galleries VI and VII. Visit this extremely rare exhibition of 2,000-year-old Roman frescoes that have never before toured the United States. The exhibition consists of more than seventy works of art and artifacts recovered from five ancient Roman villas located in Stabiae, a resort community of lavish summer homes overlooking the Bay of Naples. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, buried Stabiae in ash and pumice, along with the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Although life in Stabiae was brought to an abrupt end, the treasures and luxurious living quarters were remarkably preserved. All of the materials displayed in this exhibition were found “in Stabiano”—that is, in the region of Stabiae.

Ancient Stabiae (modern Castellammare di Stabia) consisted of a string of enormous sea-view villas built by the Roman elite for summer residency and political entertaining in the first centuries BC and AD. In the summer months the Bay of Naples became the virtual capital of the Roman Empire. The exhibition features twenty-six remarkably well-preserved fresco wall paintings and eleven wall reliefs made of stucco originating from five partially excavated villas. The frescoes are among the highest quality ever recovered from Roman history. Most notably the exhibition includes an entire triclinium (three-couch dining room) frescoed with scenes of Dionysus, god of wine, Neptune with a lover, and other reveling gods. Roman aristocrats used their villas as power bases for entertaining clients, which explains why they invested so much in decorating their surroundings with fine works of art.

The Chazen Museum of Art will install the exhibition to evoke the feeling of a visit to a luxurious Roman seaside villa, designed to enjoy both glorious views of the Bay of Naples and also quiet garden courtyards. Visitors will be able to experience the spaces, the objects, and the art that were integral to the lives of household members and their guests.

The exhibition and four-year tour is organized by the Superintendancy of Archaeology of Pompei and the Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation(RAS), and constitutes the first long-term loan of major cultural treasures from Italy to the U.S. The RAS Foundation has as its mission the completion of the excavation and conservation of at least two of the enormous villas and the transformation of the site into one of the largest archaeological parks in modern Europe. The site of Stabiae (Castellammare di Stabia) is two and a half miles from Pompeii and is currently open to the public.

In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite is organized by the Restoring Ancient Stabiae (RAS) Foundation and the Superintendency of Archaeology of Pompeii (SAP) and is toured in the U.S. by International Art & Artists, Washington, D.C., partially sponsored by Alitalia, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), Grand Circle Foundation, and the Italian Cultural Institute. Local support for the presentation of this exhibition has been provided by the Brittingham Fund, Hilldale Fund, Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission with additional funds from the Overture Foundation, and Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin.

Catalogue - The exhibition is accompanied by the fully illustrated 160-page color catalogue, In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite. The large format paperbound catalogue is available for $50 at the Museum Store, or by calling 608 263-2240. Phone and Web orders will include an additional charge for shipping and handling.