VI.14.20 Pompeii. Casa di Orfeo or House of Orpheus or the House of Vesonius Primus.
Excavated 1834 and 1874.
Part: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Plan
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 1, north-east corner of atrium, with doorways to room 8 and 9.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 8, west wall.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 8, north wall.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 8, east wall.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 8, south wall.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 8, south-east corner.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 8, upper wall on south side, with window to atrium.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Doorway to room 9 and looking east across south wall.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. 23rd February 1875. Room 9, dog mosaic from threshold of doorway.
See Presuhn E., 1878. Pompeji: Die Neuesten Ausgrabungen von 1874 bis 1878. Leipzig: Weigel. (III, Plate IV)
According to Della Corte, another dog in a mosaic, apart from the plaster cast, was in the floor of the first room to the right of the atrium.
This was discovered on 23rd February 1875.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum, inventory number 110666.
See Della Corte,
M., 1965. Case ed Abitanti di Pompei.
Napoli: Fausto Fiorentino. (p. 97)
VI.14.20 Pompeii. Undated (c.1870’s). Sketch/drawing by Sydney Vacher from south wall, described as “Room X”.
(Note: the detail of the griffin (top right) is from the top corner of the right-hand side panel of the wall in the lower painting).
The cornice sketch matches that shown in our photos.
Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, inventory number E.4379-1910.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 9, east wall
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 9, cornice on east wall.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 9, upper level on east wall.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 9, north wall.
According to PPM – (room e) -
North wall; red panelled zoccolo with painted plants at the
sides and Ibis (disappeared) in the centre (disappeared): the middle zone,
nearly all faded, had an aedicula in the centre with a painting of a crowned
Dionysus, talking to a crowned female figure, to the sides semi-panels with
“carpet borders” and corner volutes, at the top of the wall was a stucco cornice
with palmettes. IV Style.
See Carratelli,
G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e
Mosaici: Vol. V. Roma: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, p.269, no.6.
According to Sogliano: cubiculum on the right of the entrance corridor, (height: 0.52 x length: 0.42).
In the middle
stands crowned Dionisus with his right elbow resting
on a base or pillar and with the thyrsus in the left hand. On the right you can
see a female figure, also crowned, who is talking to him by putting, as it
seems, the right hand/arm on the shoulder.
See Sogliano, A., 1879. Le pitture
murali campane scoverte negli anni 1867-79. Napoli: Giannini, (p.40,
no.166).
(cubicoli a
destra dell’androne –
Nel mezzo sta
in piedi Dioniso coronato col gomito destra appoggiato ad una base o pilastri e
col tirso nell sinistro. A destra si vede una figura
muliebre, pure coronate, che a lui si rivolge mettendogli, come pare, la destra
sulla spalla.
Giorn.Scavi Pomp., n.s.III, p.100. Bull. Inst, 1876, p.20.).
“Young Bacchus with either Venus or Ariadne on account of the crown, in the latter’s case pertaining to the wedding diadem, the future corona borealis.
See Kuivalainen, I., 2021. The Portrayal of Pompeian Bacchus. Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum 140. Helsinki: Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, (p.126, D3).
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 9, cornice in north-west corner.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 9, west wall.
VI.14.20 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 9, remains of black and white mosaic floor.
Part: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Plan