A fragment of a fresco from the suburban villa of Civita Giuliana, north of Pompeii, has returned to the availability of Pompeii Archaeological Park after being spotted within a private collection in the United States.
The work depicts Hercules as a child choking snakes and was part of the decoration of a room of a ritual character, identified during recent archaeological investigations as a possible sacellum. The recovery is part of activities to combat illicit trafficking in cultural property conducted jointly by Italian institutions and U.S. authorities. The fragment had been illegally removed years ago from one of the villa’s rooms, long the subject of clandestine activities by grave robbers.
