16. Boscoreale. Villa Pompeiani di Publio Fannio Sinistore. Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor.
In later times the Villa of L. Herius Florus or Lucius Herennius Florus.
Room I. Dressing room to large
triclinium H.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. Dressing room I of the large triclinium, west wall.
Part of the painted architectural decoration from the west wall.
The complete panel measured 2.12m by 3.13m.
Now in the Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire de Bruxelles, Belgium. Inventory number A.1928.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. 1900. Dressing room I of the large triclinium, west wall.
Painted architectural decoration.
The room annexed to the triclinium was therefore also painted in the simple style of the Corinthian room.
Entering you faced the western wall, three and a half metres long.
In the middle of it was a grooved column with a diameter of 24 centimetres, painted with reality.
The decoration continued in the other walls, where it repeated the same pattern, i.e. a one-column in the centre and two angular pillars, and the bottom wall decorated in imitation of marble in various colours.
Only in the northern wall, where there was a window that gave onto the countryside, the area that would have the column was interrupted by the window.
In the two small corridors, corresponding to the short sides of the room, the decoration was done more simply, green horizontal ashlar at the bottom, and whitish above.
See Barnabei F., 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore. Roma: Accademia dei Lincei. p. 61-2,Tav. IV.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. 1966. Dressing room I of the large triclinium.
Paintings imitating walls with blocks of marbles of different colours (brown, green, yellow, white, all on a red background), seen through a row of Corinthian columns and pilasters.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. 1903. Dressing room I of the large triclinium.
According to Sambon, there were three pieces detached from the wall.
These paintings imitated walls with blocks of marbles of different colours (brown, green, yellow, white, all on a red background), seen through a row of Corinthian columns and pilasters.
The pieces measured 3.13m by 2.32, 0.72m by 0.75m and 0.78m by 0.75m.
See Sambon A, 1903. Les Fresques de Boscoreale. Paris and Naples: Canessa. 26-28 p. 17.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. Dressing room I of the large triclinium.
One of the three pieces detached from the wall.
This would appear to be the one illustrated by Sambon in the 1903 catalogue.
See Sambon A, 1903. Les Fresques de Boscoreale. Paris and Naples: Canessa. 26-28 p. 17, vignette.
Now in the Musée Royal de Mariemont, Morlanwelz, Belgium.
http://www.musee-mariemont.be/
Photo courtesy of Michel Wal, Wikimedia Commons.
This photo is subject to an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported licence.
Room L: The tablinum. (Barnabei,
p.39-46)
Opposite to the room D, on the other side of the portico, was the room L, the tablinum, that would have been used for a reception room.
According to Barnabei, it was almost square, and had each wall of four metres long, except the back wall, which was a little narrower.
It had a white mosaic floor, surrounded by a black band, and was also decorated with festoons composed of fruit and foliage.
See Barnabei F., 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore. Roma: Accademia dei Lincei. p. 39-46, figs. 8-10.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. Room L, tablinum, west wall.
Garland with Silenus mask, sacred basket, and bucrania (ceremonial bulls heads).
These are all references to the god Dionysus.
According to Barnabei, above a dark zoccolo (plinth), a metre tall, finished at the top with a white strip, large red cinnabar panels ran up the wall.
The panels were one metre and twenty centimetres tall, and eighty centimetres wide.
These red panels were separated by yellow stripes, about fifteen centimetres wide.
The red panels were surrounded by a narrow band of brown.
See Barnabei F., 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore. Roma: Accademia dei Lincei. p. 39-46.
Photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund 1903. Inventory number 03.14.4.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. 1903 painting of room L, tablinum, west wall.
According to Sambon, there were four large panels detached in good condition. The decoration was divided into three sections.
a. Cornice: White frieze imitating oval mouldings and lanceolate leaves supported by intertwined stems ending with heads of goats (green on purplish background).
b. An area of yellow and green blocks painted with relief and set on a red background, between two white friezes imitating mouldings, the lower frieze has a row of lanceolate leaves.
c. The main part of the wall to the height of a person, has large red panels, separated by yellow stripes and are outlined with brown.
On the central panels are the heads of young bulls, adorned with thin ribbons (infulae).
They serve as support for a festoon of greenery with fruit of all kinds (pomegranates, pine cones, clusters of grapes, corn, apples, etc.).
In these festoons are wound ribbons which support hanging objects.
There is a Dionysian wicker box (Cista) filled with ivy leaves, from which a serpent is escaping; a mask of Silenus, small cymbals, a tambourine adorned with greenery, an eaglet and a tragic mask.
A black base (socle) separated the decoration of the floor which was a white mosaic with light black decor.
Measurements. Height: 1.94 m. length: 2.51 m. - 1.94 m X 2.72 m. - 1.86 m x 1.10 m. - 1.97 m x 1.20 m.
See Sambon A, 1903. Les Fresques de Boscoreale. Paris and Naples: Canessa. 15-18, p. 11, pl. VI.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. 1900. Room L, tablinum, west wall.
Drawing of mask of Silenus as painted as hanging from one of the garlands.
See Barnabei F., 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore. Roma: Accademia dei Lincei. p.45 Fig. 10.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. Room L, tablinum, rear wall.
Garlands are supported by a ceremonial bulls head.
A satyr mask is in right hand panel which would have been the centre of the wall.
In the panel to the left of the mask a dead hare is suspended from the garland.
In the panel to the far left is a small cymbal (cymbalum).
Photo courtesy of Michel Wal, Wikimedia Commons.
This photo is subject to an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported licence.
Now in the Musée Royal de Mariemont, Morlanwelz, Belgium. Inventory number R61.
http://www.musee-mariemont.be/
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. Room L, tablinum, rear wall.
The central part of the painted decoration on the rear wall in the tablinum.
According to Barnabei, the room was decorated with festoons composed of fruit and foliage.
These were painted with the same skill and boldness, and with the same remarkable effect of reality as the garlands of the peristyle.
But here the garlands did not run above the crown or at the top of the wall.
They hung at the height of a person, and as if one extending the hand could have been able to grasp those fruits.
See Barnabei F., 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore. Roma: Accademia dei Lincei. p.41, Fig. 8.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale Room L, tablinum, rear wall.
Mask painted in the middle of the rear wall in the tablinum.
See Barnabei F., 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore. Roma: Accademia dei Lincei. p.44, Fig. 9.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. Room L, tablinum, east wall.
Panel with garland, red panels with yellow dividing bars, yellow and green blocks with cornice above.
The left-hand panel has a cymbalum (small cymbal) and a tympanum (tambourine drum) is on the right.
Now in the Musée de Picardie, Amiens, France.
See http://amiens.fr/votre_vie_quotidienne/vie_culturelle/musees_damiens/musee_de_picardie.html
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. Room L, tablinum, east wall.
Panel with garland, bucranium, red panels with yellow dividing bars, yellow and green blocks with cornice above.
Now in the Musée de Picardie, Amiens, France.
See http://amiens.fr/votre_vie_quotidienne/vie_culturelle/musees_damiens/musee_de_picardie.html
Room O: The antechamber or procoeton
to cubiculum M.
Room O, the antechamber or procoeton was around one and a half metres by four.
It was linked with the peristyle by a wide opening of around three and a half metres.
It was also linked with the last room on the west side (room N) by a secondary doorway.
It had a marble threshold, and a white mosaic floor framed by a black band.
It was linked with the cubiculum through a doorway opposite from that of the peristyle, which was also the same width.
Although there were many openings leaving only a small amount of wall for decoration, the decoration mimicked wherever possible the architecture of a Corinthian room.
See Barnabei F., 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore. Roma: Accademia dei Lincei. p. 71-81.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. 1903 drawing. Room O, antechamber or procoeton to cubiculum M.
According to Sambon, this shows the cornice of a wall decorated with panels of marble vein.
On top of the cornice is a small basket in the form of pyxis (round with a lid).
It has handles with griffin heads and stands out against the azure of the sky.
Pictured in the background are a Corinthian column and a lemon tree branch.
Measurement 0.90m by 0.85m.
See Sambon A, 1903. Les Fresques de Boscoreale. Paris and Naples: Canessa. 38, p. 21.
Room M: The cubiculum or bedroom.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. After the 2007 restoration and relocation.
Cubiculum M and alcove with frescoes and mosaic floor.
Note the position of the threshold mosaic strip dividing the alcove from the main room and the plain mosaic floor.
The cubiculum was about six metres long, by four metres wide, and was divided into two parts, the room itself and an alcove.
The room was two-thirds of all the space, the alcove occupied the rest at the rear.
It was a real alcove, with the front ends ending in an arch closed with doors or curtains.
The ceiling of the alcove was vaulted and with an arched rear wall, while the ceiling of the rest of the room was flat.
The floor was marked with a dividing strip to separate the space where the bed was to be situated.
This division almost simulated the threshold of another room.
The floor was of white mosaic edged with two black bands in the room, and with pure white mosaic inside the alcove.
The dividing strip, mimicking the threshold, was of coloured mosaic, striped with five rows, alternatively white and red, white and black.
See Barnabei F., 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore. Roma: Accademia dei Lincei. p. 72.
Photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund 1903. Inventory numbers 03.14.13a-g.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. Cubiculum M and alcove, between 1963 and 2004.
As displayed with frescoes and mosaic floor after the 1963 restoration and relocation.
Note the detailed mosaic floor.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. Cubiculum M and alcove, 1910.
As displayed with frescoes and mosaic floor after the relocation of the room within the gallery.
The new arrangement introduced light through the window and from a skylight in the ceiling.
Note the plain mosaic floor. The table in the centre and the bronze figure “Running Eros, Holding a Torch” are said to be from “a villa in Boscoreale”.
The bronze figure “Running Eros, holding a Torch” is now in the Pierpoint Morgan Library in New York City.
The marble table had a bronze rim decorated with a beautiful design inlaid with silver and niello.
It was found in pieces and was put together with some restorations, especially in the leg.
Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. 1903. Room M, cubiculum.
According to Sambon, the decoration of this room was entirely removed. Near the entrance was this panel.
Garlands of flowers hung from the wall; on the cornice were gold vases.
Measurement 2.45m by 0.47m.
See Sambon A, 1903. Les Fresques de Boscoreale. Paris and Naples: Canessa. 39-40, p. 22.