We’re soooooo grateful to the Blogging Pompeii site for posting this off the chart video, PompeiEffect’s Villa of the Mysteries, by PompeiViva.  Like Blogging Pompeii, we don’t want to spoil the surprise by telling you what happens in the video, so you’ll have to trust us and watch it right away.  Giggle, giggle.

Still not tempted?  We will tell you that the figures in the famous Villa of the Mysteries fresco come alive in this video and tell their story in a very groovy way!

You can watch  Pompeii Effect Villa of the Mysteries here.

Rome is abuzz with news about Caravaggio in the past weeks!  The Baroque bad boy — who died 400 years ago this month — has been in the spotlight for months as the Eterna marks the anniversary of his demise and capitalizes on an ever-growing fascination with the artist.  From February to June, fans flocked to the Scuderie al Quirinale to admire an exhibition of Caravaggio paintings brought from museums around the world; in June a team of scientists announced the discovery of a body that may be that of the artist; and just last weekend, the Borghese Gallery and three Roman churches stayed open all night to let Caravaggio fans admire his works on the 400th anniversary of the Italian Baroque artist’s death.

In the midst of all this excitement, the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano published a newly discovered painting thought (perhaps) to be by the artist.  The painting, found recently among the possessions of the Society of Jesuits in Rome, shows the martyrdom of St. Lawerence, depicting a semi-naked young man, his mouth open in desperation with one arm stretched out as he leans over flames.

Scholars have been quick to point out that the painting has not been authenticated.  Religious art historian Lydia Salviucci Insolera commented: “This is certainly a stylistically impeccable painting but we shouldn’t fall into the trap of claiming it as a Caravaggio at all costs.”  And other art historians  are likewise sceptical. Polo Museum director in Rome, Rosella Vodret, said: “It looks like a very beautiful and interesting painting but before we call it a Caravaggio, it needs to be more thoroughly checked out,” while Caravaggio expert and author of a book on the artist’s life, Stefania Macioce, isalso  unconvinced: “I’ll wait until I get a chance to look at it close up but from the photos I’ve seen it looks to be a thousand miles away from the maestro.”

We’re loving this ad campaign from a travel agency in Singapore called Vista a’la carte.  When daily life becomes just too much, you can turn to Vista a’la carte for a bit of travel therapy — or so their advertising tells us.  In the meantime, watch out for Roman Emperors throwing dishes and children who only seem to be cherubs!

Advertising Agency: Publicis, Bangkok, Thailand
Creative Director: Peerapat Peeraman
Associate Creative Director / Art Director: Weerawat Weerawatanakorn
Copywriters: Kittinai Wongsuwan, Sira Srisuparat
Illustrator: Touchapon Thannatrajdee
Print producer: Suthathip Sangaroon
Published: January 2010

We saw this on I Believe in Advertising.

Earlier this year we showcased a smashing pair of sandals appropriate for any woman who might consider herself a direct descendant of Mercury.  Now we’re happy to report that Adidas has taken the idea and run (flown?) with it.  They’ve just announced that from August 10th you’ll be able to purchase Wings 2.0 — designed by Jeremy Scott for Adidas Originals — and based upon his earlier Wings design of sneakers (check eBay if you’re longing for the 1.0 version because there are some sweeeeet pairs of those available on the auction site).

Jeremy Scott’s design for Wings 2.0 is based on the Conductor – a late ‘80s hi-top.  This 2.0 model, however, is fully updated for the divine b-boy or girl flair, they’ve got laced wings on the medial/lateral sides, full-leather black and white upper, lace jewels, and signature tongue/sockliner.

Lace jewels!  We can practically hear Hermes tightening his laces right now!

Volkswagen has a great advertising campaign that riffs on the ubiquitous souvenir plates found in shops across Italy.  The plates — meant to be reminders of summer vacations in Tuscany and Sicily — record one of the many ways in which a journey can go wrong for they depict broken down cars in beautiful Italian landscapes.

In the tagline, however, VW assures car owners that they’re on duty and available to help, even “on summer,” should such an unfortunate event occur.

Spotted on Ads of the World.

Advertising Agency: DDB, Milan, Italy
Creative Directors: Luca Albanese, Francesco Taddeucci
Art Director: Francesco Epifani
Copywriter: Nicoletta Zanterino
Illustrator: Volume 14
Photographer: FM Photographers
Published: June 2010

We wish we’d spotted this nice stencil by SONE ourselves, but, alas, we did not.  Rather, it came to us by way of the fabulous Wooster Collective.  We’re told it’s in Rome, but we don’t know where, so if you’ve seen it, do leave a comment and let us know its locale.

Anyone who loves Rome is probably passionate about the city’s #1 baroque artist, Gianlorenzo Bernini.  And anyone who loves Bernini will be absolutely delighted by this ad for 3M cushion wrap!

In an effort to demonstrate the extreme softness of cushion wrap, the Creative Juice ad agency in Bangkok hooked 3M up with a series of images that animate Bernini’s Pluto and Persephone.  At the top of the sequence, Pluto, god of the underworld, springs to earth, seizes the lovely Persephone, and commences to take the goddess to Hades and make her his wife.  As they make their downward journey, the immortal couple engages fearlessly in some acrobatic diving, clearly assured that 3M will cushion their landing and allow them to assume the pose in which Bernini placed them.

We spotted this one on I Believe in Advertising.

Advertising Agency: Creative Juice\Bangkok\TBWA, Bangkok, Thailand
Chief Creative Officer: Thirasak Tanapatanakul
Executive Creative Director: Thirasak Tanapatanakul
Copywriter: Taya Soonthonvipat
Producer: Witsawut Nuchpoom
Art Director: Dasima Ongsiriwattana/Thirasak Tanapatanakul
Illustrator: Surachai Puthikulangkura/Supachai U-Rairat
Photographer: Surachai Puthikulangkura
Other Credits: Production House Producer: Somsak Pairew

Our intrepid photographer, Susan Sanders, has been roaming the globe in search of all things Roman.  This week she brings us the majestic Dawgustus, a University of Georgia Bulldog that’s been dressed up to look like ancient Rome’s first emperor, Augustus.

She spotted this regal beast on a stroll through Athens, GA.  We love his wreath and his oh-so-fancy sandals!

For more photographs by Susan, visit her photo blog, Rome With A View.

Ron English, a well-known painter whose work has been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide, recently took to the streets of Rome, painting an X-Ray Guernica on the wall of the refrigerator at the ex-Mattatoio or slaughterhouse in Testaccio.

English  is  considered to be one of the seminal figures in the ever-growing culture jamming movement — he has priated over a thousand billboards over the last twenty years to replace existing advertisements with his own hand-painted subvertisements.  Now, however,  he’s working alongside Absolut Vodka in a project called Absolut Wallpaper that aims to restore and enhance degraded areas of Italian cities.

English painted the composition in a live performance on Saturday 29 May.  He then went on to do another Absolut Wallpaper in Milan on 3 June, paying homage to Andy Warhol’s Double Elvis in that composition.

You can check out the Milan photos on English’s website which is also the source of the images shown here.

As everyone in Rome is perfectly aware, the World Cup kicks off in just a few days and there are high hopes that the Italian team might repeat its 2006 victory.

While we in the eCool Compound enjoy a good Italian soccer match now and then and are looking forward to seeing the Azzuri in action, we’re also excited about ESPN’s clever advertising for their tournament broadcasts.

As one can see on I Believe in Advertising, ESPN has produced a whole series of ads, dedicating one to each participating country.  Each image brings to life the history of that nation. The look of the artwork is inspired by hand-painted African art found in the streets and townships across South Africa, and the entire African continent.

In keeping with our classical interests on this blog, we’re showcasing the ads that feature the Italian and Greek teams — the Italians charge through an amphitheater filled with fans, slaying wild animals as they make their way to another victory, while the Greeks approach this athletic challenge as if it were an ancient-style Odyssey.

Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy
Illustrators: AM I Collective