Sarah Beckmann’s article on “The Naked Reader: Child Enslavement in the Villa of the Mysteries Fresco” has just been published in the American Journal of Archaeology (vol 127.1)
This article analyzes the naked boy who appears as a reader in the fresco cycle of the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, ca. 60–40 BCE. Although this fresco and its many figures have received ample attention, few scholars have asked why the reading boy is naked.
Sarah is pictured here standing in the room of the Villa of the Mysteries!
For more information visit: https://www.ajaonline.org/article/4583