Engrossing and contradictory reflections are constantly being exchanged in the ongoing debate among intellectuals and aficionados on the production of the astonishing repertoire of materials and “images” emerging from the lapilli. There has long
been a dearth of attention, instead, to the workshop practices required to define images and develop a style, to the physical
concretization of the artifact as an object of perception. During operations carried out in 2014 to preserve the First Style wall
decorations of the Basilica, a synopia was recognized. The term designates the preparatory sketch made on the plaster or, in
its absence, on the wall itself.
Keywords: Pompei paintings, sinopia, I stile
