That’s no pizza: A wall painting found in Pompeii doesn’t depict Italy’s iconic dish

MILAN (AP) — A still-life fresco recently discovered in the Pompeii archaeological site features a flatbread with colorful toppings that looks like a pizza, which was only believed to have been invented many centuries later. But experts said Tuesday that the image is probably actually a focaccia topped with fruit. Key ingredients associated with pizza were not available when the fresco was painted almost 2,000 years ago. Tomatoes were only introduced to Europe from the Americas a few centuries ago, while mozzarella cheese also did not exist in its current form at the time. An agricultural lobby had seized on the discovery of the fresco to promote pizza as a national treasure.