This paint fades quickly with sub exposure. On our tour of Pompeii, we saw many food stalls that had been previously excavated, but there was hardly any paint still visible. Uncovering these ruins also destroys them. It is a strange mix of ephemeral and lasting. As Pompeii has been excavated by generations of archeologists, it has also been part of developing modern archeological methods. Visiting the place is so incredible, it has no doubt inspired legions of archeologists to enter the field.

I thought the fragments of faux brickwork and wainscoting you can see on the back wall were interesting. It implies that the tradition of protecting walls with wainscoting was well enough established 2000 years ago that you could put up a fake one and people would know what it was.

Speaking of the artwork. To the right of the chicken is what looks like a horse. Or is it a dog? Maybe it's meant to be a cow? No mention of horse meat in the article, although they do mention beef.

I think I answered my own question with a few google searches. Seems that Romans had a taboo about eating hoursemeat. https://www.academia.edu/12021679/1999_Eating_horse_meat_the...

So I guess that picture is suppose to be a cow?

Dog on a leash! Maybe waiting outside? :P

https://barrie360.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/sophie-1-1....

This is a cave canem, or, a "beware of the dog" sign. A dog skeleton was also found inside the Thermopolium.

Thanks! In the close up it's much more clearly a dog.

There seems to be some scribbling on the top black lining, looks like "NICIλ something something". Any idea on what it says?

Also, I'm surprised by how similar the collar design looks like a typical encrusted dog collar you could find at any dog park today.

The chicken looks amazing and looks like it it could have been painted today, both style and preservation.

I interpreted the image to the right of it as a dog.

Horse was probably too valuable to eat, unless expected to die imminently.

Or maybe that "meat from ruminants with the cloven-hoof" rule was more widespread.