I was about to add a post about what you could see if you visited the fascinating ‘Musee departementale d’Arles Antique’…. when we were all re-confined to barracks. So a visit is clearly for another day.
But in the meantime, they have put some interesting info online about the dig that has been progressing on the opposite bank of the Rhone, at Trinquetaille.
Underneath an 18thc glassworks, itself now a ‘monument historique’, they have uncovered a large group of Roman houses, many with mosaic floors. The fresco in the illustration was found in a first century BC house that they’ve dubbed La Maison de la Harpiste’. In the style of paintings in Pompei and Herculaneum, it’s unique in France.
The work started in 2013 and is described on this website, which also has links to video clips of the meticulous work undertaken. http://www.arles-antique.cg13.fr/mdaa_cg13/root/actualitesexpositions_verrerie.html
It does say too that the fresco of the lovely harpist will at some point be transferred to the main museum. So it will be exhibited alongside the stunning head of Caesar, a fascinating story with a link to Trinquetaille (https://aixcentric.com/2012/10/22/bust-of-caesar-or-is-it/) and the impressive Roman boat which was painstakingly lifted from the bed of the Rhone and now has its own wing (https://aixcentric.com/2012/02/03/roman-boat-raised-from-the-rhone/).
If you are new to Aix, a visit to this museum (easy to find, lots of parking)
is highly recommended for the WTIAO list….When This Is All Over!
aixcentric 
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