Anyone know of a website with lots of ancient Roman paintings?

Question

I'm really wondering what they looked like, and how similar they were to modern-day Italians.

Answer 1

There are very few known or still existing ancient Roman paintings for several reasons. Early painters did not have the knowledge or the larger selection of paint pigments that later artists had, the painting that were done by them were not with durable long-lasting pigments and did not hold up as well through time. Few were done on canvas that withstood the aging process. Most were done directly on the walls of palaces and on the walls of the wealthy and few of the walls survived.

Ancient Roman sculpture is a whole different story. And many fine examples still exist.

As to who might actually have a collection of early Roman Empire paintings in America I can only think of one collection than would have more than one and that would be the Getty in LA.

You can go to their web site. The only other American gallery that might have any paintings of note from that period would be the National Gallery in Washington.