The victim was found
in the small cubiculum 3 overlooking the atrium of I.7.10-12 the Casa
dell’Efebo.
The victim appears
to lie on his right side, with his left arm flexed and raised high, his hand
closed like a fist, while his right arm, not distinguishable in the photograph
(PAP neg. A 1228) which documents the cast in situ, presumably immediately after
it was made, had to be folded with the hand raised to the mouth. The legs, of
which the cast reproduces only the upper part, from the knees up, are slightly
flexed and spread apart.
Matteo della Corte,
in the report on the discovery, described the victim as a child of about [eight
to] ten who fell headlong from the upper floor while trying to escape while
carrying a few foodstuffs in a wicker basket, found next to the body.
The mediocre success of the cast was probably due to the special position
in which the body was lying, with the head in the lapilli and the lower half of
the body in the ash.
The surface of the
cast appears very rough and irregular but the imprints of the clothes on the
chest and abdomen appear visible.
The sex of the victim
is unknown.
See Osanna, N.,
Capurso, A., e Masseroli, S. M., 2021. I Calchi di Pompei da
Giuseppe Fiorelli ad oggi: Studi e Ricerche del PAP 46, p. 552-3, Calco
F.
See Foto Archivio PAP,
neg. A 1228, © Parco Archeologico di Pompei.