The first style of Roman mural painting was popular from 200 to 60 B.C. Wealthy Romans sought to imitate the marble walls and columns they discovered in the ancient Greek palaces and temples. The Romans commissioned painters to cover their plain plaster walls with painted faux marble in vivid colors and patterns. In this way, they surrounded themselves with a simulated version of the opulence enjoyed by the nobility of ancient Greece.
The second style of Roman mural painting was popular in the early years of the first century B.C. It was an early version of French trompe l'oeil, a technique in which walls are painted using shadows and perspective to give the illusion of depth. The Romans had entire walls painted with faux doorways, garden scenes and other landscapes that made their homes appear larger than they really were.
The third style of Roman mural painting was popular from 20 B.C. to A.D. 20. It coincided with the rule of Emperor Augustus, who rejected the illusions of the previous Roman murals in favor of grand decorations. Walls were painted in single colors of white, red or black. Painted faux marble columns were replaced by actual ornate candelabras that stretched from floor to ceiling. Highly stylized, artificial landscapes and scenes of Roman emperors and gods became smaller accents, much like modern framed wall hangings.
The fourth style of Roman mural painting was popular from A.D. 20 to A.D. 79. It combined elements of the three previous styles, creating the most detailed mural paintings of all. For example, painted windows that overlooked a faux garden scene during the second style era now looked out upon Roman gods and goddesses frolicking in the woods. A large number of these late Roman murals were preserved for archaeologists to rediscover after volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted and lava buried Pompeii and surrounding communities in A.D. 79.