Impressive wall paintings depicting, among other things, a moving scene from Greek mythology, have been discovered in Pompeii, the management of the famous archaeological site, located near Naples, in southern Italy, announced today.

During restoration works and excavations, “paintings of considerable value” have come to light, in and around the House of Leda, one of the buildings of ancient Pompeii that was destroyed and buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.

The most impressive fresco is undoubtedly the one depicting Phrixos and his twin sister, Helli, fleeing on the golden ram to escape their stepmother, Ino. Phrixus, holding tightly to the desolate animal, watches, unable to intervene, as his sister falls into the sea that bears her name.

“This fresco shows us two fugitives in the sea of ​​ancient Greece,” commented Pompeii director Gabriel Zuchtriegel. It looks like a framed painting on a golden yellow wall, decorated with elaborate patterns.

The other frescoes depict still lifes and portraits of women.

Excavations continue at the House of Leda, with the aim of restoring its original plan and gathering enough information to identify the main rooms of two other houses located to the south and north of this house. The murals are also cleaned of volcanic ash, before the process of conservation and restoration begins.

Volcanic ash spewed 2,000 years ago by Mount Vesuvius helped keep the city almost intact, as did the bodies of the roughly 3,000 dead from that disaster. Pompeii is the second most visited tourist attraction in Italy, after the Colosseum. It covers an area of ​​about 220 acres and a third of it still remains buried in the ashes.