Roman fresco showing perfume production (C006/4566) Posters and Art Prints

Roman fresco showing perfume production. Male and female figures represent the perfumers, who are using aromatic plants to prepare perfumes and oils. From left to right: a young woman (seated) smelling a perfume; perfumers working around a bench and mixing extracts in vats; and perfumers operating a press used to extract oils. This fresco is from the triclinium (dining room) of the House of the Vettii in Pompeii, a Roman city located in the Bay of Naples, Italy. Pompeii was ruined and buried during an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD. The city was rediscovered and excavated in the 18th and 19th centuries.