Roman Domestic ArchitecturePompeii

Herculaneum

Roman Housing

Wall Painting

and

Mosaics

Pompeii and Herculaneum• Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman city near

modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania.

• Pompeii along with Herculaneum (its sister city), wasdestroyed, and completely buried, during a catastrophiceruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days on24 August 79 AD.

• The volcano collapsed higher roof-lines and buried Pompeiiunder many yards of ash and pumice and it was lost for nearly1700 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1748.

• Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarilydetailed insight into the life of a city at the height of theRoman Empire.

• Today, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italyand a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Pompeii and other cities affected by the eruption of Mount

Vesuvius. The black cloud represents the general distribution of

ash and cinder. Modern coast lines are shown.

Archeological

Controversy• This is a computer-generated

depiction of the eruption of Vesuviusin 79 which buried Pompeii (fromBBC's Pompeii: The Last Day).

• The depiction of the Temple ofJupiter, facing the forum, and theTemple of Apollo, across the porticoto the left, are nonethelessinaccurate, and the shown state of theporticoes around the forum is also atleast questionable, as they all appearintact during this recreation of the 79eruption.

• It is widely known that at least theTemples of Jupiter and Apollo hadbeen destroyed 17 years before,during the 62 earthquake, and thatthey had not been rebuilt by the timethe city was finally destroyed in the79 eruption

Pompeii

Neighborhood Street in Pompeii

• After thick layers of ash covered the two towns, they were abandoned and eventually theirnames and locations were forgotten.

• Then Herculaneum was rediscovered in 1738 by workmen working on the foundation of asummer palace for the King of Naples, and Pompeii shortly later.

• The towns were actually found in 1599 by Domenico Fontana, who was digging a new coursefor the river Sarno, but it took more than 150 years before a serious campaign was started tounearth them.

• Gymnasium, seen from the top of the stadium wall.

• The depression center-left was filled with water and used for swimming practice aswell as mock naval battles.

• To the right (partially obscured by a tree trunk) is a line of carbonized tree stumps,remains of trees (almost two thousand years old) that were part of the palaistra andwere burned in the volcanic eruption of 79.

• Between these and the colonnade is a line of saplings recently planted as areplacement.

A Gruesome Discovery

• Giuseppe Fiorelli took charge of the

excavations in 1860.

• During early excavations of the site,

occasional voids in the ash layer had been

found that contained human remains.

• It was Fiorelli who realized these were

spaces left by the decomposed bodies and

so devised the technique of injecting

plaster into them to perfectly recreate the

forms of Vesuvius's victims.

• What resulted were highly accurate and

eerie forms of the doomed Pompeians who

failed to escape, in their last moment of

life, with the expression of terror often

quite clearly visible.

Herculaneum

• Today, the Italian towns of Ercolano and Portici lie on theapproximate site of Herculaneum.

Herculaneum

• Herculaneum was a smaller town with a wealthier population thanPompeii at the time of its destruction.

• After the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the town ofHerculaneum was buried under approximately 50 feet of lava, mudand ash.

• It lay hidden and nearly intact for more than 1600 years until it wasaccidentally discovered by some workers digging a well in 1709.

• The pyroclastic flow instantly killed allresidents in Herculaneum who had not escapedbefore it struck.

• In contrast to Pompeii, the remains of thosekilled at Herculaneum were not preserved inplaster casts.

• In 1981, Italian public works employees foundbones at the Herculanium site while digging adrainage trench.

• Italian officials called in Sara C. Bisel, aphysical anthropologist from the United States,to oversee the excavation and study the bones.

• Until this discovery, there were few Romanskeletal remains available for academic study,as Ancient Romans regularly practicedcremation.

• Excavations in the port area of Herculaneum,which initially turned up more than 55skeletons: 30 adult males, 13 adult females and12 children.

• The skeletons were found on the seafront,where it is believed they had fled in an attemptto escape the volcanic eruption.

The Ring Lady

Villa of the Papyri• The Villa of the Papyri is a private house of ancient Roman city of Herculaneum.

• Situated north-west of the township, the residence sits half way up the slope of the

volcano Vesuvius without other buildings to obstruct the view.

• The villa was owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso

Caesoninus.

• The villa's front stretched for more than250 meters parallel to the coastline.

• It was also surrounded by a gardenclosed off by porticoes, but with anample stretch of vegetable gardens,vineyards and woods down to a littleharbor.

• Sited a few hundred metres from thenearest house in Herculaneum, the villahad four levels disposed in a series ofterraces on the sloping site and was oneof the most luxurious houses in all ofHerculaneum and Pompeii.

• The Villa of the Papyri also housed alarge collection of eighty sculptures ofmagnificent quality, many of them nowconserved in the rooms of the largebronzes at the Naples NationalArchaeological Museum.

The Bronze Dancers from the Villa

• Villa of the Papyri gets its name from the

extensive library of papyrus scrolls found in

the villa.

• At the time of the eruption, the valuable

library was packed in cases ready to be

moved to safety when it was overtaken by

lava.

• The eruption eventually deposited some 75

feet of volcanic ash over the site, charring

the scrolls but preserving them. It is the only

surviving library of Antiquity.

• Using multi-spectral imaging, a new

technique that was developed in the

early 1990s it is possible to read the

burned papyri.

The Getty MuseumLos Angeles, California

The Inner Peristilum

Roman Homes

• Small rooms

• Often two stories

• Made of stone

• Built around a central atrium

• Contained gardens and fountains

• Early Italian houses grouped around the atrium 1, with a small garden, the

so-called hortus, at the back.

• The classic Roman house, however, was divided into two parts.

• The first part grouped around the atrium, the second around the

peristylium 2.

• The peristylium having developed out of the earlier hortus.

• The atrium and the peristylium were perfect adaptations to the heat of the

Mediterranean.

• They were open to the sky, letting fresh air in to circulate among the

corridors and rooms.

• In the atrium a small pool, the impluvium 5 would catch the rainwater,

whereas in the peristylium, the rain would water the plants.

The Atrium

• Reception room, oftenwith an opening in theceiling with animpluvium below.

• Contained the familygods (Lares andPenates), images (masksof the ancestors),symbolic marriage bed.

• Women of the house (ortheir slaves) may haveweaved cloth there.

Atrium,

House of the

Silver WeddingPompeii

Atrium, House of the Faun,Pompeii

Lararium

• The lararium, located in theatrium, was a shrine to theguardian spirits of theRoman household.

• Family membersperformed daily rituals atthis shrine to guarantee theprotection of thesedomestic spirits, the mostsignificant of which werethe lares.

Bronze Larstatue of a household god was found in an

atrium in Pompeii.

The Tablinum

• Reception room, 8, beyond the atrium

• Where head of household meet with clients

• Portrait busts of ancestors might be displayed

• In larger homes, the tablinum opened onto the

peristylum or garden.

Tablinum between atrium and peristylium

Peristylium• Romans loved the outdoors, and softened the

geometric form of their homes with beautifullyplanted gardens.

• Larger residences often had both fruit and vegetablegardens.

• In the mild climate of Pompeii, the outdoorperistylium was often converted into an outdoorliving space with painted walls, fountains, sculpturesand mosaics.

Peristylium

House of the Vetti, Pompeii

Peristylium of House of the Faun

The more private rooms of the house, like thecubicula, bedrooms, were located off the peristylium.

Housing for working class Romans

Housing for less affluent Romans

• Many working people lived in rooms behind orabove their places of work.

• The wealthy often rented out the front rooms oftheir houses, on either side of the entrances, foruse as shops, workrooms, or restaurants, oftenwith living space included.

• Some middle class workers could afford their ownsmall brick domus, house.

• The lower classes also lived in apartmentbuildings called insulae.

Brick domus, at Ostia

an ancient port city near Rome

Insulae: More typical Roman housing

• Much of the housing in Roman cities consisted ofbrick apartment buildings, called insulae, (islands).

• Most Romans lived in these crowded buildings withtheir internal courtyards, multiple floors and narrowstaircases, not in the magnificent spacious villaspreserved at Pompeii.

• The apartments might seem cramped by ourstandards, but the Romans were very social people,who lived much of their lives in public markets,squares, baths and theaters.

• Most only returned home to eat or sleep.

• Even women enjoyed a public life outside the home.

Insulae,

Ostia

• In big cities, most Romans lived in apartment buildings called insulae, orislands (because they often took up a whole city block).

• During the 1st c. CE, there were almost 50,000 apartment buildings inRome, and fewer than 2000 private homes.

• At first insulae were usually built of wood, three or four stories high.

• Later, because of the risk of fire, insulae were more often built of brick.

Roman Wall Painting

Many excellent examples of wall paintinghave been uncovered at Pompeii and othertowns surrounding Mt. Vesuvius, and more

recently in and around Rome.

Many examples of Roman Painting

have been uncovered

• Still life

• Portraits

• Landscapes

• Mythical narratives

Roman Wall Painting

• Walls of Roman homes were plain smooth plastersurfaces, with little architectural features.

• These surfaces were ideal for painting.

• Artists painted decorations using a mixture ofpigment, lime and soap, sometimes wax too.

• After painting was dry they polished it with a specialtool called a burnisher and then buffed it with a softcloth.

• You will notice that the paintings at the MFA indeedhave a polished look.

Periods of Roman Painting• Art historians and archaeologists describe the development of Roman painting in

four styles. The First Style (ca. 200-60 BCE) was largely an exploration ofsimulating marble of various colors and types on painted plaster.

• The Second Style in Roman wall painting emerged in the early first century BCE,during which time fresco artists imitated architectural forms purely by pictorialmeans. In place of stucco architectural details, they used flat plaster on whichprojection and recession were suggested entirely by shading and perspective; as thestyle progressed, forms grew more complex.

• The Third Style (c. 20 BCE- 20 CE), which coincided with Augustus' reign,rejected illusion in favor of surface ornamentation. Wall paintings from this periodtypically had a single monochrome background, such as red, black, or white, withelaborate architectural details. Small figures and landscapes appear in the center ofthe wall.

• The Fourth Style in Roman wall painting (ca. 20-79 CE) is generally lessdisciplined than its predecessor. It revives large-scale narrative painting andpanoramic vistas, while retaining the architectural details of the Third Style.

Early Paintings, 200-80 BCE

• In the earlypaintings, calledfirst style, artistsattempted toproduce the illusionof panels ofcolored marble onthe walls, whichwere then framedwith actualmoldings.

Advances in Painting2nd style

• By about 80 BCE artistsbegan to create shallowspace in their paintings,which helped to extendthe space of the actualroom by creating anillusion.

• Architectural details, likecolumns were nowpainted

Villa Farnese, Rome3rd style

• Now we see the

addition of landscapes,

cityscapes or small

groups of figures in the

center of the panels.

• All the walls were

decorated with

whimsical floral and

architectural details

and small scenes.

Murals in the House of the Vetti,4th style

• Roman Painting Style Review

1 2

34

House of Publius Fannius Synistorvilla at Boscoreale, near Pompeii

Lady Playing a Cithara

• Fresco from Boscoreale

• Somewhat idealized

• Casual intimate pose

• Shading creates depthand volume

• Romans had masteredseveral forms ofperspective.

• Metropolitan Museum,New York, NY

House of Publius Fannius Synistorvilla at Boscoreale, near Pompeii

Reconstruction of the bedroom in the

Metropolitan Museum in New York

Garden Scenefrom the Villa of Livia, Primaporta, near Rome,

late 1st c. BCE

Details from Garden Scenefrom the Villa of Livia, Primaporta, near Rome,

late 1st c. BCE

Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii

Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii

• Extraordinary frescoes run around all four walls of aroom in a suburban villa just outside Pompeii.

• The fresco is a megalographia (a depiction of life-sizefigures), and is unique in Pompeii.

• The panels of the frescoes appear to show a series ofconsecutive events, and their interpretation is muchdebated.

• Most commonly, it is thought that the frescoillustrates the initiation of a woman into the secretrites of Dionysos, some kind of passage fromchildhood to womenhood.

Roman Still Life

Landscape Painting, Romelate 1st c. BCE

beginning of atmospheric perspective

Working on linear perspective

Roman Era Funerary Portrait Painting

• Some of the earliest portraits of people who were not kings or

emperors, are the funeral portraits that survived in the dry

climate of Egypt's Fayum district.

• These life like paintings were once bandaged in place over the

faces of mummies dating usually between the first and third

centuries, a time when Egypt was part of the Roman Empire.

• These are the only paintings of the Roman period that have

survived, aside from frescos.

• These portraits were, in many cases, finely executed in

encaustic paint on wood or, less frequently, on linen.

• Mummy with an

inserted panel portrait

of a youth

• ca. 80-100 CE

Fayum

Portraits

Fresco portraits

from Pompeii

Mosaics

Another area in which the Roman excelled

Two types: Wall and Floor•Wall mosaics were usually

made of glass and highly polished.

• Floor mosaics were usually

made of small stones or tiles.

Ostia Antica, Mosaics

• Many “simple”black and whitestone mosaics,many of whichhave beenexposed to theelements for 2000years.

Piazza Armerina

Roman villa in Sicily with Incredible Mosaics

Wall Mosaic

Doves, 2nd Century

Over 150 tesserae

in every square

centimeter

Wall Mosaics from Herculaneum

at the Naples Museum

Floor Mosaic of Fallen Food

(notice the shadows)

Remember this?

Detail from Battle of Issos mosaic

• House of the Faun, Pompeii, Original now in Naples museum

• Huge scene, 10’x19’, All natural stone

• Limited to four colors, red, yellow, white and black

• Roman mosaic copy of a Greek painting

Battle of the Centaurs and Wild BeastsHadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, mosaic c. 18-28 CE

• Works referenced:

• Janson, History of Art, Abrams 2001

• Marilyn Stockstad’s Art History: Second Edition (Volumes one and two)

• Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Timeline of Art History.” Availableonline at http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm

• Strickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa. 1992

• “The Web Gallery of Art.” Available online at http://www.wga.hu

• http://www.artchive.com/artchive/E/el_greco.html