VI.1.7 Pompeii. House of the Vestals
or Casa delle Vestali.
Linked to VI.1.6, VI.1.8,
VI.1.24, VI.1.25 and VI.1.26.
Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
Part 6 Part 7 Part 1
Part 2 Plan
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Doorway to room 10, from atrium, looking north-west.
This room was reported as being excavated on the 22nd July 1784 (see PAH 1, 2, (p.21-22), and 29th July 1794, and Addenda (p.166-167).
ADDENDA,
(p.166-167)
22 Luglio 1784
Si scoprono due
stanze appartenenti alla terza abitazione vicino alla Porta di pompei, nel lato
settentrionale.
Questa era qualla
che va sotto il nome delle Vestali.
Curioso musaico
di vetri e pastiglie in una della suddette stanze, con uno specchio in mezzo.
Questa camera
pare che fosse addetta all’uso di mangiare, ossia un triclinio.
29 Luglio 1784
Musaico con due
delfini, ed in mezzo di essi un’ancora, che orna la soglia della porta piu
grande d’ingresso al suddetto triclinio.
(translation –
22nd July 1784
Two rooms belonging to the third dwelling near the Gate
of Pompeii on the north side, were excavated.
This was the one that goes by the name of the
Vestals.
A curious glass and paste mosaic was found in one of
these rooms, with a mirror(?) in the middle.
This room seems to have been used for eating, i.e. a
triclinium.
29th July 1784
Mosaic with two dolphins, and between them an anchor,
which adorned the largest door threshold at the entrance to the aforementioned
triclinium.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Room 10, south-west corner.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Room 10 looking north into room 13, the peristyle.
According to Jashemski, to the right (north) of the atrium of house 25 (excavated in 1828) was a peristyle garden.
The triclinium off the south-west corner of the portico had a good view of the garden.
See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.119)
According to PPP and PPM, the zoccolo on the west wall was yellow and the middle area of the wall would have been red.
At the north end of the west wall, the remains of a painted column could just about be seen.
The floor of this room was only preserved on the north side of this room showing part of the threshold of the doorway leading to the peristyle.
The threshold was decorated with tesserae forming black and white triangles (‘pale di mulino’), a motive typical of the II style.
Of the same epoch, could have been also the threshold of black and white mosaic decorated by two black mosaic dolphins, with an anchor in the middle, (see PAH 1, 2, p.22), however this was not preserved.
In the centre of the floor, in view of the doorway, was a square of 0.33m in size, and inside of this was a circle formed by pieces of glass, and inside that there was a solitary piece of glass forming a circle, like a circular mirror.
Around this, there were many four and five sided pieces that decorated it, each of these with various work inside, but all of glass and paste of various colours, but many were worn away.
See Bragantini, de Vos, Badoni, 1983. Pitture e Pavimenti di Pompei, Parte 2. Rome: ICCD. (p.107 ‘triclinio 37’)
See PAH, 1, 2, (p.21-22) – 22nd July 1784.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007.
Room 10, looking through north doorway into room 13, the peristyle, and towards the north-east corner with doorway through to room 11.
According to PAH, 1, 2, (p.22) and (Addendum on page 167)
29 Luglio 1784
In questa
settimana si e impiegata l’opera in trasportare la terra depositata dallo scavo
delle due stanze notate nel passato rapporto.
Nella stanza dove
resta un quadretto nel pavimento come specchio, vi stanno due porte contigue
l’una all’altra, che corrispondono al cortile della medesima abitazione, le
quali ho stimato pulire per osservarne le soglie.
Nella più grande
porta era un quadrilungo formato da un fascia di musaico nero, e l’interno del
quale e di musaico bianco; veniva ornato da due delfini di musaico nero e nel
mezzo un.ancora.
Ma sendo mancante
una quasi meta di detta soglia a causa delle ruine, esiste solo un delfino con
l’ancora.
Nell’altra porta
piccola vi era la soglia di una pietra nera, nelle quale si sono trovate due
piastre con tondi per il gioco delle porte.
(translation –
29th July 1784
For this week, we have transported the earth deposited by
the excavation of the two rooms noted in the past report.
In the room where there is a little square in the floor
as a mirror, there are two neighbouring doorways, one next to the other, which
link to the courtyard of the same dwelling, I have cleaned the thresholds in
order to look at them.
In the biggest doorway was a long square formed by a band
of black mosaic, and inside of which was white mosaic.
It was decorated with two black mosaic dolphins and in
the middle was an anchor.
But as nearly one half of this threshold was missing due
to the damage, there exists only one dolphin with the anchor.
In the other small doorway, there was a threshold of a
black stone, in which were found two slabs with holes for the play of the
door.)
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Room 11, at front of two doorways to peristyle.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Room 12, with doorway to peristyle at rear.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Room 12, doorway leading to room 13, the peristyle.
VI.1.7 Pompeii, 1968. Looking north towards rooms 11 and 12. The doors at the rear of the rooms lead to the peristyle 13.
Room 28 is on the right which has room 24 behind it and room 25 leading to room 26 on its right.
Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J68f2321
VI.1.7 Pompeii. 1957. Looking north towards peristyle, and across room 12. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J57f0175
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking east from room 12, across room 30 the secondary atrium, towards rooms 27, 29 and 31.
The central doorway would have been the entrance corridor from the doorway at VI.1.25 leading into the atrium with black and white mosaic floor.
Embedded between the corridor and the atrium floor would have been the inscription “Salve”.
VI.1.7/25 Pompeii. Sketches made by Chenavard. They may not all be from this house.
See Chenavard, Antoine-Marie (1787-1883) et al. Voyage
d'Italie, croquis Tome 3, pl. 104.
INHA Identifiant
numérique : NUM MS 703 (3). See Book on INHA
Document placé
sous « Licence Ouverte / Open Licence » Etalab
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Doorway to room 13, the peristyle from room 11.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. East side of room 13, the peristyle. Looking north.
According to Jashemski, the peristyle garden was enclosed on all four sides by a portico.
It was supported on the west, east and south by twelve stuccoed columns, smooth below and fluted above.
In the middle of the garden were two large adjacent pools, the interiors of both were painted blue.
The south pool was rectangular in shape and had steps leading into it on the east side.
The semi-circular projection on the middle of the south side was perhaps for a statue or fountain.
The north pool which is square had much of its space occupied by a massive masonry square, which probably supported a large fountain statue.
See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.119)
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Detail of top of column in peristyle.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. East side of room 13, the peristyle. Looking north.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking north-west across room 13, the peristyle.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking north-west across the two pools in room 13, the peristyle.
In the middle of the garden were two large adjacent pools, the interiors of both were painted blue.
The south pool was rectangular in shape and had steps leading into it on the east side.
The semi-circular projection on the middle of the south side was perhaps for a statue or fountain.
The north pool which is square had much of its space occupied by a massive masonry square, which probably supported a large fountain statue.
See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.119)
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. South side of room 13, the peristyle. Looking west.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Doorway in south-west corner of room 13, the peristyle. Looking south.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. West side of room 13, the peristyle. Looking north.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. West side of room 13, the peristyle. Looking north.
According to Garcia y Garcia, due to the bombing on the night of 14th/15th September 1943, the peristyle suffered the falling off and partial loss of the splendid IV stile motifs, which decorated the west wall of the west portico.
See Garcia y
Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a
Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. (p.66).
VI.1.7 Pompeii. Pre-1937-39. Looking towards west wall of peristyle, with remains of wall paintings.
Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1720.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. W.1390. Looking towards west wall of peristyle, with remains of wall paintings.
Photo by Tatiana
Warscher. Photo © Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Rom, Arkiv.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. W.377. Drawing of wall decoration from peristyle wall.
See Giornale degli Scavi, NS III, 1874, tav.
3.
Photo by Tatiana
Warscher. Photo © Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Rom, Arkiv.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. Drawing by Giuseppe Chiantarelli, engraved
by Raffaele Aloja, showing wall decoration from peristyle wall.
It is described in Gli Ornati 1838 as –
“Appartiene
questa bella parete al lato lungo del peristilio di una casa della Città di
Pompei prossima alle porte.
Era dessa
divisa in sei simmetrici compartimenti, e ciascuno di questi in altri tre.
Molto
importante era la figura di Marte, che vedesi espressa nel mezzo de’ primi
compartimenti.
Incisione
dell’Aloja (Raffaele).”
See Gli ornati
delle pareti ed I pavimenti delle stanze dell’antica Pompei, 1838, pl. 60.
See Giornale
degli Scavi, NS III, 1874, tav. 3.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. 1803 painting by Giuseppe Chiantarelli of wall decoration from peristyle wall.
Colonnades adorned with festoons, in the partitions of which can be seen
pictures of fruit, fish, birds and edibles; below, armed male figures and
seated sphinxes with animals between.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number ADS 116.
Photo © ICCD. https://www.catalogo.beniculturali.it
Utilizzabili alle condizioni della licenza Attribuzione
- Non commerciale - Condividi allo stesso modo 2.5 Italia (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 IT)
See Giornale
degli Scavi, NS III, 1874, Tav. 3.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking north-east across pools in peristyle.
According to Jashemski, the four-sided portico was supported on the west, south and east by twelve stuccoed columns.
The columns were smooth below and fluted above, red below and white above.
Next to the corner columns on the north side were rectangular pillars decorated to match the columns.
Between them, in the centre of the north portico, were two additional pillars surmounted by columns.
These columns and pillars were joined by a low wall, which had an entrance into the garden from the south.
See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.119).
VI.1.7 Pompeii. Pre-1937-39. Looking north-east across pools in peristyle.
Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1399.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. W.1391. Looking north-east across pools in peristyle.
Photo by Tatiana
Warscher. Photo © Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Rom, Arkiv.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Pools in peristyle, looking north.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Pools in peristyle, looking north.
VI.1.6/7 Pompeii. Pre 1937-39. Looking north-east across pools in peristyle.
Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1399.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. North side of room 13, the peristyle. Looking east.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. North side of room 13, the peristyle. Looking east.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Pools in peristyle, looking south.
In the middle of the garden were two large adjacent pools, the interiors of both were painted blue.
The south pool was rectangular in shape and had steps leading into it on the east side.
The semi-circular projection on the middle of the south side was perhaps for a statue or fountain.
The north pool which is square had much of its space occupied by a massive masonry square, which probably supported a large fountain statue.
See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.119)
VI.1.7 Pompeii. Looking south across peristyle.
Photograph May 2001 courtesy of Current Archaeology.
VI.1.7 Pompeii. Looking south-west across peristyle towards doorway to triclinium.
Photograph May 2001 courtesy of Current Archaeology.
According to Jashemski, the triclinium off the south-west corner of the portico had a good view of the garden.
See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.119)
VI.1.7 Pompeii. Looking towards rooms on north side of peristyle.
Photograph May 2001 courtesy of Current Archaeology.
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Part 2 Plan