The Wall paintings from a Cubiculum Nocturnum are a set of wallpaper-like paintings from 50-40 BCE in Roman culture. Although not part of an official collection, about sixty sections of wall paintings were discovered after the excavation of the villa and sold to different museums around the world. The walls of Room M were purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1903 and are currently on view. The particular room displayed at the Met is believed to have functioned as a bedroom or the most private part of a residence. These paintings were created long before the official discovery of one point and two point perspective so to the modern eye, the parallel lines of the buildings may look uneasy. However, the intentions of creating three dimensional art on the two dimensional plane of the bedroom walls remain clear.

The wall paintings in Room M were painted and molded using the “true fresco” technique. The process of true fresco painting involved applying paint to wet plaster to mold the two together. The colors of the wall paintings are almost just as bright as they were when first painted. It is believed that the walls were covered in perspective drawings of the outdoors to imitate the luxurious landscape that appears to be just outside the room. The side walls are both painted with four sections which are divided by painted columns. The left wall shows a cityscape and is one of the earliest records of linear perspective although it is not as we know it today with a single vanishing point. The cityspace houses an ornamental doorway so close to the viewer and playing into the illusion of entering the background and the expansion of space. This doorway is featured four times throughout the three walls of the displayed piece, twice on each side wall. 

On the sectioned off wall between the cityscapes, there is a shrine with two red columns on either side. They appear to project forward and play into the idea of space because they cast shadows and pop out at the viewer. There is a figure within the shine and depth is felt because of the layering of paints so the statue sits behind the red wall and between the two pillars. On the wall to the left, the statue holds a torch in each hand. On the right wall directly opposite, the statue holds a patera up with the right hand. The pillars on either side of the statues are wrapped with cloth and help to elevate the shrine. As a background, most of the wall is covered in leafy green foliage, this heightens the feeling of being outdoors and although they remain static, provide a greater sense of movement within the painting.

The furthest scene on the side walls is separated by a corinthian pillar. The projecting squares on the wall indicate the area in which the bed would have originally been placed. There are golden columns which hold up a triangular roof top. The triangle, however, is not complete and is open in the middle revealing a red temple. The red is a darker shade and falls into the background and creates distance with the brighter golden columns ahead. The darkest space between the red columns of the temple are painted a dark black further accentuating the distance between the viewer. In front of the base of the temple, there is a gray barrier that separates the viewer from the temple. Unlike the cityscapes the distance is more harshly felt and a gap is felt due to the lack of a door. 

On the wall further away from the entrance, there are two scenes separated by the same red column that can be seen in front of the statues on the side wall. The larger of the two on the left includes a window into the real outdoors. In comparison to the side walls, the back wall is painted in a more rustic manner, there are less efforts to emulate a real space but show a natural rocky hill. Behind the red column, to the side of the left panel, there is a yellow block of painted area. On top of which sits a bowl of fruits, almost like a still life. The fruits are painted with different shades of yellow and hatch marks are used to create soft texture. Subtle details are painted across the scene and intentions are clear in wanting to create a real illusionistic space because of the attention to detail while not emphasizing the light and shadows to an unrealistic degree. The window on the left side is covered with cement and a metal cage like structure. These are additions made after the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius but add to the later stylistic choices made when determining how to preserve the piece.