Villa of the Mysteries

The Hall of the Mysteries in a villa just outside Pompeii, where a near life-size frieze runs around the room against deep red walls. Painted around 80 to 70 BC, it shows women, fauns and winged figures taking part in a secret rite for followers of Dionysus, who appears on the central wall, including a young girl undergoing ritual flagellation. The eruption of Vesuvius buried the room and kept its color, and standing in the corner, as here, lets you read the procession as it wraps from wall to wall. Nobody agrees on exactly what the ceremony was, which is half the fun.