Abstract
The exceptional collection of roman frescoes coming from sites around the bay of Naples includes several depictions of more or less idealised landscapes with villae. Attempt on their study faces the opposite problems than the ones archaeologists usually encounter while studying architectural remains.
While normally we would draw conclusions based on examination of the remaining structures and on plans made during excavations or survey, in this case, we do not have any of those, because the examined material exists only in form of wall paintings. They need to be approached with caution, because they are to some degree a product of fantasy, but on the other hand, the depictions are quite detailed and can also tell us about importance of various architectural elements for the romans themselves.
In this paper, I will present a method which I use to restore the possible floor plans of the depicted buildings and create 3D models of them. The restored plans will be used to draw parallels between the depicted villae and actual sites in the Mediterranean basin, while the 3D models of these "ideal villae" allow us to further analyse and compare the employed architectural language and means of communication between the villa and its surroundings by placing us "in the middle" of the depicted scene.