August Mau (15 October 1840 – 6 March 1909) was a German

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

who worked with the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut while studying and classifying the Roman paintings at

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

, which was destroyed with the town of

Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...

volcanic eruption A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...

in 79 AD. The paintings were in remarkably good condition due to the preservation by the

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

that covered the city. Mau first divided these paintings into the four Pompeian Styles still used as a classification. Mau was born in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, where he read Classical Philology at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

, and then at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. He moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, for reasons of ill-health, in 1872, where he became Secretary to the German Archaeological Institute and catalogued the holdings of its extensive library. His interests lay above all in Pompeii, with inscriptions and Roman wall paintings, where he built upon the earlier work published by

Wolfgang Helbig Wolfgang Helbig (2 February 1839 – 6 October 1915) was a German classical archaeologist born in Dresden. He is known for his studies involving the wall paintings of Campania (Pompeii). Biography From 1856 to 1861 he studied philology and archae ...

and Giuseppe Fiorelli. Mau died in Rome in 1909.

Publications

* ''Pompejanische Beiträge''. Reimer, Berlin 1879 * ''Geschichte der decorativen Wandmalerei in Pompeji''. Reimer, Berlin 1882. * ''Führer durch Pompeji''. Furchheim, Naples 1893 * ''Pompeji in Leben und Kunst''. Engelmann, Leipzig 1900 * ''Katalog der Bibliothek des Kaiserlich Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts in Rom''. Löscher, Rome In parts, 1913–1932,

External links

* * 1840 births 1909 deaths German art historians Archaeologists from Schleswig-Holstein Academic staff of the University of Bonn German male non-fiction writers Writers from Kiel {{germany-art-historian-stub

Publications

Further reading

External links