VII.1.25 Pompeii. Casa dei
Principi di Russia, Second entrance to VII.1.47 House of Siricus.
Linked to VII .1.46. Excavated
1851, 1857, 1862, and 1872. Restored and reopened 2017.
(Strada Stabiana 57).
According to PAH, the house was excavated on 17th May 1852 in the presence of the Grand Dukes of Russia, the sons of Czar Nicholas I.
See Fiorelli G.,
1862. Pompeianarum Antiquitatum Historia Vol. 2, 1819 to 1860, p. 524, 17
Maggio 1852.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Combined plan of VII.1.25 VII.1.47 and VII.1.46 VII.1.47 VII.1.46
Please note that the numbers used for the rooms on pompeiiinpictures are based on the combined plan for VII.1.25, VII.1.47 and VII.1.46 (see link above) in PPM and not the earlier Niccolini plan shown below which gives ornamental details and room descriptions.
See Niccolini F,
1854. Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei:
Volume Primo. Napoli. Strada Stabiana Casa No. 57, Tav. I.
Key:
1: VII.1.25
entrance fauces
2: Shop
3: Tuscanic atrium
4: Room with holes in wall where 4 skeletons were found
5: Room with rough painting of serpents in which a fifth skeleton was found in a tunnel through the wall
6: Unadorned and rough room with traces of a door in the threshold
7: Ala with various paintings
8: Unadorned and rough room with traces of a door in the threshold
9: Cubiculum with various paintings
10: Peristyle
11: Triclinium
12: Exedra/Tablinum
13: Cubiculum
14: Second peristyle on a different level
15: Cellarium
16: Kitchen
17: Reconstruction of roof tiles now in the museum
18: Roof tile to give light
19: Roof tile to give light
20: Tile from angle of roof
21: Tile from angle of roof
22: Elegant antefix
23: Elegant antefix
24: Table from the atrium
25: Painting from the side of the door of the exedra possibly Alcmaeon killing his mother Eriphyle.
Please note however that the numbers used for the rooms on pompeiiinpictures are based on the combined plan for VII.1.25 and VII.1.47 in PPM.
See Carratelli,
G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici: Vol. VI. Roma: Istituto della
enciclopedia italiana, p. 228.
According to Breton, this beautiful home, whose main entrance bears the No. 57 on the street of Stabia, was excavated in May 1852 in the presence of the sons of the Emperor of Russia, Nicolas I. Its plan presents a peculiar disposition, motivated no doubt by the shape of the land, which had more width and less depth than that of a regular House of equal importance. The atrium and the peristyle are broader rather than deeper and are separated only by a simple wall instead of by a tablinum and some other parts.
See Breton, Ernest. 1855. Pompeia, decrite et dessine: Seconde édition. Paris, Baudry, pp. 316-7.
Via Stabiana entrance, looking west. The door-jambs were made of brick, and the threshold was made from lava.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. September 2017.
Entrance fauces 23. Looking west from entrance towards atrium. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. December 2018.
Entrance fauces 23. Looking west from
entrance corridor towards atrium. Photo courtesy of Aude
Durand.
Entrance fauces 23, looking west from entrance corridor towards atrium.
Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
VII.1.25 Pompeii.
September 2015.
Entrance fauces 23. Looking west from entrance towards atrium, during restoration.
According to Breton -
via a prothyrum paved in opus signinum patterned symmetrically with small white stones, we enter the Tuscan atrium; at the centre is a very pretty impluvium of marble at the top of which is a covered square cippus of marble with a lead pipe that poured water into a basin.
See Breton,
Ernest. 1855. Pompeia, décrite et
dessine: Seconde édition. Paris, Baudry, p. 316.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. October 2019.
Atrium 24, looking west across impluvium towards peristyle
31.
Foto Annette Haug, ERC
Grant 681269 DÉCOR.
VII.1.25, Pompeii. December 2018. Looking west across
impluvium in atrium 24. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. October 2019. Looking north-west across
impluvium in atrium.
Foto Annette Haug, ERC
Grant 681269 DÉCOR.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. October 2023.
Looking east across impluvium in atrium 24 to fauces 23 and entrance VII.1.25. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.
VI.1.25 Pompeii. September 2017.
Looking north-east across impluvium in atrium 24 to fauces 23 and entrance VII.1.25. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. December 2018.
Looking east across
impluvium in atrium 24 to fauces 23 and entrance VII.1.25. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017. Looking east across atrium 24.
The corridor 23 to the entrance at VII.1.25 is on the left, followed by a doorway to a small room 25, centre, and doorway to room 26 in south-east corner of atrium. The doorway to room 29 is to the right. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According to Fiorelli -
On the left, we find a cupboard, a storeroom with a painting of serpents, under which was the shelf to deposit the offerings, and the stairs to go up above: there we could read several graffiti, not least the acclamation NVMMIANO FELICITER written in red,
and written in
carbon -
SIICVNDVS
RIIGIMONI
VIIII TIINIIT
FIILICITIIR
which now we can no longer see/read. There follows another cubiculum, and an ala.
(A
sinistra trovansi un’apotheca, una cella penaria con la dipintura dei serpi,
sotto cui lo sporto per depositarvi le offerte, e la scaletta per montare di
sopra:
vi
si leggevano varie epigrafi graffite, nonché l’acclamazione NVMMIANO FELICITER scritta
in rosso,
e
col carbone –
SIICVNDVS
RIIGIMONI
VIIII
TIINIIT
FIILICITIIR
che
ora più non si vede. Seguono un altro cubicolo, ed un’ ala.)
See Pappalardo, U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p.76)
According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de) these read
Nummiano
feliciter
[CIL IV 917]
Secundus
regimoni
um tenet
feliciter
[CIL IV 918]
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017.
Looking east through doorway into small room/cupboard 25 on south side of entrance corridor. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According to Niccolini –
The signs of many holes in the walls of the room
No. 4, (our 25), point out that here were fixed several shelves placed to store
unknown objects.
It seems to us this little room was too far from
the kitchen of the house at VII.1.46, to be able to believe it was used as a
room for serving up, as was the opinion of Sig. Minervini. Here at the height of approx. 4.5metres four
skeletons were found, and a fifth was lying across a tunnel made in the wall
that divides this from the adjoining room No. 5 (our 26).
(“I
segni di molti buchi operati sulle pareti della stanzetta no.4, (nostro numero
25), additano che ivi eran collocati vari scaffali atti a riporvi chi sa quali
oggetti. A noi sembra questa stanzetta troppo lungi dalla cucina della casa
no.16 (forse ambiente 16) per poterla credere designata a servir di dispensa
come opinasi dal sig. Minervini. Quivi
all’altezza di palmi 17 si rinvennero quattro scheletri, ed un quinto era
giacente attraverso un traforo fatto nel muro che divide questa con la contigua
stanzetta no.5.”)
See Niccolini F, 1854. Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei: Volume Primo. Napoli, Strada Stabiana, Casa numero 57, p.2.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017.
Looking east through second doorway into room 26 in south-east corner of atrium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According to Niccolini –
Only in the narrow passageway that leads from the
atrium into room 5 (our 26), and forming almost one room with it, we see on the
walls that make the corner, badly painted, the two usual serpents so often
repeated in Pompeii with their heads in the corner, converging near a painted
plant.
In the opinion of Sig. Minervini, the domestic
worship was performed here, because noticed below the serpents was a recess
designed to be where it was easy to place the offerings; and some eggshells
that the learned archaeologist asserts to have seen, mixed with the earth in
such a recess, made him think those offerings were not there by accident.
(“Solo
nell’angusto passaggio che dall’atrio mena nella stanza no.5, e che con questa
quasi una sola ne forma, veggonsi ne’ muri che fanno angolo malamente dipinti i
due soliti serpenti così spesso ripetuti in Pompei con le teste negli angoli
convergenti presso una pianta. Il signor Minervina opina che quivi forse
attuato si fosse il domestico culto, perocché si scorge al di sotto de’ serpenti
un incavo che sorregger poteva una tavola ove era facile poggiare le offerte; e
taluni gusci di uova che il dotto archeologo asserisce aver veduti frammisti
alla terra in tale incavo, quando disotterravasi questa località, lo inducono a
pensare che, se non per fatto accidentale, a quelle offerte quei gusci poteano
forse aver relazione.”)
See Niccolini F, 1854. Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei: Volume Primo. Napoli, Strada Stabiana, Casa numero 57, p.2.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017.
Looking south through doorway to room 29, cubiculum, in south-east corner of atrium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017.
Looking south across threshold to room 29 in south-east corner of atrium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017.
Looking south-east across room 29, cubiculum, in south-east corner of atrium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017.
Looking south-east across atrium 24 to rooms 29, cubiculum, and room 30, an ala. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According to Niccolini –
The other two small rooms which give onto the atrium marked by numbers 7 and 9 (our rooms 30 and 28) were decorated with several paintings.
The very spacious entrance to the one in the wall located to the right, (think he is talking about our room 30) has no vestiges of closure on its marble threshold. The zoccolo/plinth, however, was adorned with green painted plants and birds. On the walls, are painted panels in yellow, red, and white, and candelabra, and festoons, and domestic birds, and the human-headed Sphinx, and whimsical architectures and landscapes.
All this makes this little room rather charming, which certainly would have been an ala of the atrium, while the room that was facing and corresponding to the ala across the atrium on its wall to the right, was a cubiculum 9 (our room 28).
(“Le altre due piccole stanze che dan sull’ atrio
segnate co’ numeri 7 e 9 ornate sono da svariati dipinti. (nostri ambienti 30 e
28).
L’ingresso assai spazioso di quella nel muro a
destra situata, non ha vestigia di chiusura sulla sua soglia di marmo.
Lo zoccolo pero era ornato da verdi piante e da
augelli. Sulle pareti scompartite di giallo, di rosso, e di bianco son dipinti
e candelabri, e festoni, e domestici uccelli, e l’androsfinge, e capricciose
architetture e paesaggi.
Tutto ciò fa vaga assai questa stanzetta che certo
un’ala dell’atrio esser doveva, mentre l’ala che le sta rimpetto e che pur nell’atrio
corrisponde, sul suo muro a destra, era un cubicolo 9 (ambiente 28 sulla nostra
pianta)”.
See Niccolini F,
1854. Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei:
Volume Primo. Napoli, Strada Stabiana, Casa numero 57, Strada
Stabiana, Casa numero 57, p.2.
VI.1.25 Pompeii. 1957. Atrium 24. South side of table near impluvium, with podium. Looking north. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
According to Breton, there was a marble impluvium, a square cippus of marble, a basin on a small base of marble adorned with large acanthus leaves and a white marble table engraved with the number LXXIX.
See Breton, Ernest. 1855. Pompeia, décrite et dessine: Seconde édition. Paris, Baudry, p. 316.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J57f0124
VI.1.25 Pompeii but shown as VII.1.47 on photo. Pre-1937-39.
Atrium 24. South side of table near impluvium, with podium. Looking north.
Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1510.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. Pre-1937-39. Atrium 24, looking east towards marble table at rear of impluvium.
Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 423
VII.1.25 Pompeii. Pre-1937-39.
Looking south-west across atrium towards painted decoration on west wall, and ala with remaining painted walls.
Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 523.
Looking south-west across impluvium towards doorway to Ala 30. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.
VI.1.25 Pompeii. September 2017.
Looking south-west across impluvium towards doorway to Ala 30, on left, and peristyle 31, on right. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.
Atrium 24, looking west from impluvium through doorway to peristyle 31. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.
VI.1.25 Pompeii, but shown as VII.1.47 on photo. Pre-1937-39.
Atrium 24, looking west from impluvium through doorway to peristyle 31.
Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1509.
VII.1.25
Pompeii. Photograph by M. Amodio, from an album dated April 1878.
Looking
west across impluvium in atrium 24 towards doorway to peristyle 31. Photo
courtesy of Rick Bauer.
Atrium 24, looking towards north-west corner,
with doorway to peristyle 31, on left. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
Atrium 24, looking towards
north-west corner. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. Old undated 19th century photo. Looking north-west across atrium 24.
According to Breton, via a prothyrum paved in opus signinum patterned symmetrically with small white stones, we enter the Tuscan atrium; at the centre is a very pretty impluvium of marble at the top of which is a covered square cippus of marble with a lead pipe that poured water into a basin on a small base of marble adorned with large acanthus leaves. The fountain is accompanied by a white marble table with two feet of very fine workmanship, each composed of the anterior part of a chimera and a griffon. On the side top of the table is engraved the number LXXIX and we found a small bronze group representing Hercules armed with his club and a young Phrygian kneeling in front of him.
See Breton, Ernest. 1855. Pompeia, décrite et dessine: Seconde édition. Paris, Baudry, p. 316.
According
to Fiorelli –
The atrium walls are decorated with painted tripods in golden colour, some of which are of particular workmanship, showing various figurines on the border of the aenum.
(“Le pareti sono fregiate di tripodi a color
d’oro, alcuni de’quali di particolare fattura, mostrando varie figurine
sull’orlo dell’ahenum.”)
See Pappalardo, U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p.76)
VII.1.25 Pompeii. Old undated 19th century photo. Atrium 24.
Enlarged detail of painted decoration in north-west corner of atrium.
Looking west across peristyle 31 towards doorway to exedra 33, and window and doorway to triclinium 32, on right. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2006. Looking west from atrium across peristyle, towards triclinium 32.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017. Looking towards north-west corner of atrium.
On the left is the entrance to the peristyle 31, and on the right, are the doorways to rooms 28 and 27, on the north side of the atrium 24.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According to Fiorelli –
On the right of the atrium, are two cubicula, and the Niche of the Penates.
(“Stanno a destra dell’atrio due cubicoli e la
nicchia de’Penati.”)
VII.1.25 Pompeii. Old undated 19th century photo. Looking north-west across atrium 24 through peristyle 31 to triclinium 32.
The marble tables, 24 on the Niccolini plan, can be seen on the impluvium. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017.
Remains of painted fourth style plaster (as can be seen in photo above and below this one) on west wall in north-west corner of atrium 24.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.1.25 Pompeii.
Enlarged detail of painted figure seen in old photograph on west wall of atrium 24.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017. Doorway to small room 28 in north-west corner of atrium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According
to Niccolini –
The other two small rooms which give onto the atrium marked by numbers 7 and 9 (our rooms 30 and 28) were decorated with several paintings.
(see room 30 above) ……… while the room that was facing and corresponding to the ala across the atrium on its wall to the right, was a cubiculum 9 (our room 28). I point out the doors which would have closed it, whose vestiges are distinct on the threshold.
Like those of the ala, placed facing, the pretty walls of the cubiculum decorated with beautiful ornamentation painted over a white background in which among compartments of yellow, green, and red lines, and with several whirled patterns, there are various flying Cupids, as well as a Candelabra and an ideal architecture surmounted by a winged monster with horned dragon head, and with leonine paws.
(“Le altre due piccole stanze che dan sull’atrio
segnate co’ numeri 7 e 9 ornate sono da svariati dipinti. (nostri ambienti 30 e
28).
(vedi room 30 sopra) ……………mentre l’ala che e sta
rimpetto e che pur nell’atrio corrisponde, sul suo muro a destra, era un
cubicolo 9 (nostro ambiente 28),
Io additano gli usci che lo chiudevano, le cui
vestigie sono sulla soglia distinte.
Come quelle dell’ala, posta di faccia, son vaghe
assai le mura di un tal cubicolo per leggiadri ornati sopra bianco fondo
dipinti nel quale fra scompartimenti di linee gialle, verde, e rosse, e con
svariati rabeschi, si veggono vari Amorini svolazzanti, oltre ad un candelabro
e ad una ideale architettura sormontata da alato mostro con testa di cornuto
drago, e con leonine zampe.”)
See Niccolini F, 1854. Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei: Volume Primo. Napoli, Casa numero 57, p.2.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017. Room 28, south-west corner of small room in north-west corner of atrium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017.
Room 28, remains of painted decoration on west and north walls, in small room in north-west corner of atrium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. May 2017.
Room 28, remains of painted decoration on north and east walls, in small room in north-west corner of atrium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. Pre-November 1856 painting by Zahn of north wall of room 28 in north-west corner of atrium.
See Carratelli,
G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici: Vol. VI. Roma: Istituto della enciclopedia
italiana, p. 320.
See Zahn, W.,
1852. Die schönsten Ornamente und
merkwürdigsten Gemälde aus Pompeji, Herkulanum und Stabiae: III. Berlin:
Reimer. Taf. 77.
VII.1.25 Pompeii. Room 28, north wall. Drawing by Nicola La Volpe, of a cupid carrying a
vase on his shoulder.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number ADS 522.
Photo © ICCD. https://www.catalogo.beniculturali.it
Utilizzabili alle
condizioni della licenza Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Condividi
allo stesso modo 2.5 Italia (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 IT)
Cupids
provenanced from a room no longer identifiable but put here as Niccolini said this
room contained “flying cupids”.
Note: these
same drawings have also been included into the windowed triclinium, room 32, as
Fiorelli said it too showed many cupids.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number ADS 60.
Photo © ICCD. https://www.catalogo.beniculturali.it
Utilizzabili alle
condizioni della licenza Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Condividi
allo stesso modo 2.5 Italia (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 IT)
Cupids
provenanced from a room no longer identifiable but put here as Niccolini said this
room contained “flying cupids”.
Note: these
same drawings have also been included into the windowed triclinium, room 32, as
Fiorelli said it also showed many cupids.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number ADS 61.
Photo © ICCD. https://www.catalogo.beniculturali.it
Utilizzabili alle condizioni della licenza Attribuzione
- Non commerciale - Condividi allo stesso modo 2.5 Italia (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 IT)
On
the left is the room in north-east corner of atrium, and the entrance corridor
doorway is in the east wall of the atrium, in centre.
Photo
courtesy of Klaus Heese.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Combined plan of VII.1.25 VII.1.47 and VII.1.46 VII.1.47 VII.1.46