Upper School students recently gathered in assembly for the annual Shirley Bennette Lecture in Classics. This year, students heard from Professor of Classics and Ancient Studies at Barnard College, Kristina Milnor. The presentation, titled "More than a Maidservant: Dark-Skinned Women in Pompeian Wall Painting" analyzed the ancient practice in Pompeian painting to make men dark skinned and women light, even when the woman in question originated from an African country like Ethiopia. There are, however, two instances in which this rule is broken, each time with striking artistic and thematic effects. Ms. Milnor also discussed the significance of these two images for our understanding of race and gender in Pompeian wall painting, offering alternative ways to interpret representations of Blackness in ancient art.