V.2.i Pompeii. Casa delle Nozze d’Argento or House of the Silver Wedding

or Domus L. Albucius Celsus.

Part 11      Part 1      Part 2      Part 3      Part 4      Part 5      Part 6      Part 7      Part 8      Part 9      Part 10      Plan

Vicolo dei Balconi, north end on the left in 2018, is running south alongside the green area of the garden 25 of V.2.i.

In the foreground is the newly excavated Vicolo delle Nozze d’Argento and in front is V.7 under excavation.

Photograph © Parco Archeologico di Pompei.

V.2.i Pompeii. October 2023.

Looking east across north portico towards doorway to large garden area. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.i Pompeii. December 2023. North-east corner of north portico with doorway to large garden 25. Photo courtesy of Miriam Colomer.

V.2.i Pompeii. October 2023.

Doorway at east end of north portico into large garden 25. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.i Pompeii. December 2023. Garden 25, looking south-east. Photo courtesy of Miriam Colomer.

V.2.i Pompeii. October 2023. Garden 25, looking south-east. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.i Pompeii. October 2023. Garden area 25, looking east across south side of large garden. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.i Pompeii. December 2023. Garden area 25, looking north. Photo courtesy of Miriam Colomer.

V.2.i Pompeii. January 2024. Garden area 25, looking north across garden. Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber.

V.2.i Pompeii. October 2023. Garden area 25, looking north along west side of garden area. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.i Pompeii. January 2024. Garden area 25, looking north-east across garden. Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber.

V.2.i Pompeii. October 2023. Area 25, looking north-east. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.i Pompeii. August 2023. Room 25, looking north across triclinium, in centre, and pool, on right. Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber.

V.2.i Pompeii. July 2023. Room 25, looking north-east across large garden area to east of house with triclinium and pool.

At the end of the construction site, by the "Cura del Verde" area it was possible to regenerate the three large green areas with the formation of three aesthetic and utilitarian gardens based on archaeological data and finds and on an interpretation of the proportions of the spaces of the domus as well as on the internal perspective visual axes.

A conclusione del cantiere, da parte dell’Area “Cura del Verde” è stato possibile rigenerare le tre ampie aree verdi con la formazione di tre giardini estetici ed utilitaristici basati sui dati e reperti archeologici e su un’interpretazione delle proporzioni degli spazi della domus oltre che sugli assi visuali prospettici interni.

See PAP: La casa delle Nozze d'Argento – Riapre 16 luglio 2023 a conclusione dei restauri

Photograph © Parco Archeologico di Pompei.

V.2.i Pompeii. July 2023. Room 25, large garden area to east of house with triclinium and fountain pool.

Photograph © Parco Archeologico di Pompei.

V.2.i Pompeii. August 2023. Room 25, detail of restored triclinium in large garden area to east of house. Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber.

V.2.i Pompeii. October 2023. Garden 25, detail of south side of restored triclinium. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.i Pompeii. December 2007. Room 25, large garden area to east of house. Remains of triclinium.

According to Jashemski –

To the east of the peristyle was a very large garden, excavated in 1907, originally enclosed by a portico supported by slender eight-sided columns, but these had been removed, probably because of earthquake damage. A masonry triclinium (l. medius 4.45m; l. imus and l. summus 300m) was later built in the middle of the west side and occupied the place of several columns. The round top table of white marble (0.80m in diam.) was supported by a masonry column and had an opening in the centre for a jet of water. A stopcock on the rear wall cut the flow of the fountain during mealtime.

In front of the triclinium was a rectangular pool (2.00m x 3.53m; depth 1.70m) with a low column in the centre from which jetted a second fountain.

The overflow from the pool spilled over into the garden through a large hole near the top of the south-west corner of the pool.

Various irrigation channels were found in the garden. The soil contours suggest that this was a kitchen garden.

Spano reports that a post with a lion’s head from which water jetted was found near the triclinium.

Jashemski quotes her sources as –

Mau, RM (1895), pp.146-47; Spano, NSc (1910), p.324-28 and fig.1 (plan) on p.315; Soprano, p.298, no.9; Dohl, p.13

See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.113)

V.2.i Pompeii. December 2007. Room 25, triclinium with table in centre, which had a fountain pipe at its centre.

According to Soprano -

Ubicazione: giardino. L. medius, m.4.45; l. summus e l. Imus, m.300; diametro della mensa, m. 0.80.

Bibliog: “Not.Scavi”, 1896, p.433; 1910, p.326 e ill.; “Rom. Mitt.”, 1895, p.147; Mau. Pompeji in Leben und Kunst (Lipsia, 1908), p.259;

Paoli, U.E., Vita romana, tav. xix.

Il triclinio, situato al centro del lato occidentale del giardino, a distanza del muro di fondo, presenta nei letti laterali una eguale lunghezza.

Attualmente i tre letti appaiono completamente grezzi.

(Note 2: Al momento della scoperta i piani dei tre letti mostravano ancora avanzi di signino, le pareti esterne tracce d’intonaco rosso, e quelle interne tracce d’intonaco giallo: egualmente rivestita d’intonaco giallo appariva la mensa.)

La mensa, circolare, era rivestita da una lastra di marmo bianco, con al centro un foro per la fuoruscita di un getto d’acqua.

Lungo le pareti interne dei tre letti corre un gradino che sporge di cm.25.

Di fronte al triclinio, al centro del giardino, si apre il bacino d’una vasca rettangolare: nel mezzo di essa s’eleva una colonnina rivestita di signino come le pareti della vasca. A pie del l. summus c’era un canaletto per la raccolta delle acque.

See Soprano, P. (1950). I triclini all’aperto di Pompei. (In Pompeiana, raccolta di studi per il secondo centenario degli scavi di Pompei. Napoli, Gaetano Macchiaroli, Editore, P. 298, no.9).

V.2.i Pompeii. December 2007. Room 25, table in centre of triclinium, with a fountain pipe at its centre.

V.2.i Pompeii. October 2023. Area 25, looking north-east across garden towards fountain pool. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.i Pompeii. October 2023. Area 25, fountain in centre of pool. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.i Pompeii. December 2007.

Room 25, fountain pool in centre of garden to east of triclinium in the large garden area to east of house.   

This was linked to the fountain in the centre of the triclinium.

V.2.i Pompeii. Pre-1937-39. Room 25, looking north-east across large garden area.

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 009.

V.2.i Pompeii. Pre-1937-39.

Room 25, looking east across fountain pool in centre of garden to east of triclinium in the large garden area to east of house.   

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1750.

V.2.i Pompeii. December 2007. Room 25, large garden area to east of house. 

V.2.i Pompeii. March 2009.

Rectangular pool with column, in front of the site of the triclinium with the round table. Looking east into the unexcavated.

V.2.i, Pompeii. Pre-1937-39. Looking east across the garden area towards pool on east side of triclinium.

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1751a.

V.2.i Pompeii. December 2007. Room 25, triclinium in large garden area to east of house.

Looking west at the wall behind the triclinium which has a shallow bay framed with pilasters.

V.2.i Pompeii. March 2009. Doorway to room 26.

V.2.i Pompeii. March 2009. Room 26, looking west.

V.2.i Pompeii. March 2009. Room 26, west wall with lararium.

V.2.i Pompeii. March 2009. Room 26, lararium painting on west wall. 

Two serpents approaching a round altar painted in a marble pattern, with a fire and a pine cone on the top.

Above is a triple garland below which is a single bird in flight.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14.  (p.38, no.110 and Pl. 28,2)

See Fröhlich, T., 1991. Lararien und Fassadenbilder in den Vesuvstädten. Mainz: von Zabern. (L49).

V.2.i Pompeii. 1930s photo by Tatiana Warscher. Room 26, lararium painting on west wall. 

Two serpents approaching a round altar painted in a marble pattern, with a fire and a pine cone on the top.

Above is a triple garland below which is a single bird in flight.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14.  (p.38, no.110 and Pl. 28,2)

See Fröhlich, T., 1991. Lararien und Fassadenbilder in den Vesuvstädten. Mainz: von Zabern. (L49).

V.2.i Pompeii. March 2009. Room 26.

V.2.i Pompeii. March 2009. Room 26, south-west corner.

V.7 Pompeii, on left. March 2009.       Vicolo delle Nozze d’Argento looking east.                            V.2, on right.

V.2.i Pompeii, on left. December 2005. Vicolo delle Nozze d’Argento looking west.

V.2.i Pompeii, on left. September 2021.

Looking west on Vicolo delle Nozze d’Argento. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

Part 1      Part 2      Part 3      Part 4      Part 5      Part 6      Part 7      Part 8      Part 9      Part 10      Plan