VIII.7.16 Pompeii. Gladiators Barracks or Caserma dei Gladiatori or Quadriporticus of the theatre.

Excavated 1766 to 1769, 1774, 1779, 1791 to 1794 and 1814.

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VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking west along south side. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2006. Looking west along the south side.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. 1957. Looking towards south side. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

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.

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VIII.7.16 Pompeii. 1957. Looking towards south-east side. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

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.

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VIII.7.16 Pompeii. August 27, 1904, by Cryan family. Looking south-east. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2005. Reconstructed upper floor in south-east corner.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2006. Reconstructed upper floor gallery on south side.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2006. Rooms along south side.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. July 2021. Looking east along south side towards south-east corner.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2024.

Looking east along south side towards south-east corner. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking east along south side towards south-east corner.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. July 2021. Looking east along line of columns on south portico.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. July 1826. Sketch by P.A. Poirot, looking east towards south-east corner.

See Poirot, P. A., 1826. Carnets de dessins de Pierre-Achille Poirot. Tome 2 : Pompeia, pl. 44.

See Book on INHA  Document placé sous « Licence Ouverte / Open Licence » Etalab 

VIII.7.16. 1852 drawing from Pompeiana. Looking east along south side towards south-east corner.

According to Gell,

“The stuccoed columns were alternately painted red, yellow, or blue; the unfluted part always red.

The gallery is restored, we are told, as pointed out by the carbon of the ancient woodwork.

The angle represented is that next to the taverna.”

See Gell, W. and Gandy, J., 1852. Pompeiana: Third Edition. London: Bohn. (p.194, pl. 72)

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking east along south side showing upper storey rooms and gallery in south-east corner.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2024.

Looking north from south-east corner. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2024.

Looking north-east towards east side, from south side. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. June 2019. Looking north-east towards east side, from south side. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. August 27, 1904. Looking north. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. 1900. Looking north along east side. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. July 2021. Looking north from south side.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2024. Looking north from south side. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. June 2019. Looking north from south side. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2018.

Looking north-west towards steps to Triangular Forum and Large Theatre, from south side. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking towards north side, from south side. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2024.

Looking north-west to upper level of Large Theatre, from Gladiator’s Barracks. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. June 2010. Showing changes to the north end and in the Large Theatre behind. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2005. Looking to north end and Large Theatre.

VIII.7.16Pompeii. September 2024.

Looking towards west side and north-west corner, from south side. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking west towards doorway to exedra in centre of south side.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. October 2014. South side, with reconstructed balcony on upper floor, and entrance to exedra, on right.

This exedra is now used an entrance/exit. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. July 2021. Doorway to exedra in centre of south side, also used as entrance/exit.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. October 2014. Looking south into the exedra. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

According to Mau – “In the middle of the south side a large room was found, with the front open towards the area, an exedra….., the exedra on the south side, protected from the sun, as the station for the trainers and lounging room for men awaiting their turn;……. The small rooms were poorly decorated in the 4th style. There were better paintings only in the exedra. On the rear wall of this room was the oft repeated group of Mars and Venus; on the side walls, gladiatorial weapons were represented, piled up in heaps, after the manner of trophies, about 8ft high.”

See Mau, A., 1907, translated by Kelsey F. W. Pompeii: Its Life and Art. New York: Macmillan. (p.160-161).

VIII.7.16 Pompeii.

Paintings found on the east and west walls of the exedra at the centre of the south side of the portico on 14th February 1767.

The choice of depicting the weapons was evidently determined by the function that the entire portico had in the last decades of the city's life, that of Ludus gladiatorius, the gym and residence of the gladiators, as is also documented by the numerous graffiti read on the plaster of its rooms and its columns and above all from the discovery of numerous splendid bronze weapons inside.

Shown on the walls in this room were mythological paintings, different weapons used by gladiators and a military trophy.

On the right in this painting, Mars and Venus with two cupids playing with a helmet, are shown in the panel.

Engraving by Filippo Morghen published in 1838.

See Gli ornati delle pareti ed i pavimenti delle stanze dell'antica Pompei incisi in rame: 1838, pl. 53.

Morghen has reproduced the details of the two short walls, putting them together as if they were contiguous, and replaces the original indistinct mythological picture with figures of Mars with a staff and Venus fully draped.

Two that have recently been restored are, inventory numbers 9694, gladiatorial arms (left in this painting) and 9702, trophy and arms (centre right).

See Sampaolo V., Frammenti di affreschi con armi gladiatorie in Restituzione: Tesori d’arte restaurati 2013, p. 103.

According to Fiorelli in PAH, - 14th February 1767 –

In this week, we have discovered the entire room, which in the past report we have said that we had begun to detect.

This room that was on the south side, was open towards the courtyard, and painted according to this description.

All around the base, the room was painted black with some light decorations: in the middle of the main wall there was a painting with two figures, (approximately 0.75m high x 0.66m wide), one a man and the other a woman, but this piece was very worn out, and it was almost difficult to see the other.

At the sides of this painting, there were two grotesque architectures, and the remains of the façade had various panels.

The façade that was to the left of the described had in the middle a trophy, which rose up above the floor as high as 2.64m (approx. 8ft.8inches), and was composed of helmets, armour breast-plates, leggings, shields, short-swords, and a trident, with a ball (shot) and with lance.

At the rear to this trophy was a panel of architecture, that was all painted with a natural colour, and on the left (?) side there was a painting (0.66 m high x 0.59 m wide) in which was shown a clothed man with a rod in his left hand, and a draped woman.

The plaster had fallen from the painting that would have made symmetry with this left (?) side (i.e. the one on the other side, does that mean the left side and the one of Mars and Venus could be seen on the right-hand side).

Of the façade that was opposite to the one above described, only a portion of it remained, just a little bit of the base where there was part of another trophy, (0.92m high – approx. 3ft) which was formed by a helmet, a breast-shield, a legging, a trident, and two short-swords.

See Fiorelli, G. (1860). Pompeianarum Antiquitatum Historia, (p.202)

7 March 1767:

Once the draughtsman Morghen had finished copying the whole of the room painted as described above, Canart, as advised, immediately gave instructions for the cutting out of the 4 pieces which were worth it: [Now in Naples Archaeological Museum]

Picture with two figures - a man and a woman: 2 pal. and 10 on. high and 2 pal. and 6 on. wide.

Picture with a trophy: 9 pal. and 9 on. high and 4 pal. and 3 on. wide.

Picture with two figures – a man with a spear in his left hand and a woman: 2 pal. and 7 on high and 2 pal. and 4 on. wide.

Picture with part of a trophy: 3 pal. and 6 on. High and 5 pal. wide.

See Fiorelli, G. (1860). Pompeianarum Antiquitatum Historia, (p.204)

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. Wall of the exedra.

Painting of trophy of arms above a painting of the arms used by gladiators.

This is the larger fresco, 252.4cm high by 112 cm wide.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9702.

See Sampaolo V., Frammenti di affreschi con armi gladiatorie in Restituzione: Tesori d’arte restaurati 2013, p. 103.

Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. Wall of the exedra. Painting of various arms used by gladiators.

This is the smaller fresco, 87cm high by 126 cm wide.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9694.

See Sampaolo V., Frammenti di affreschi con armi gladiatorie in Restituzione: Tesori d’arte restaurati 2013, p. 103.

Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 2.5 Generico CC BY-NC-ND- 2.5

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. Wall of the exedra. Painting of Vittoria, tropaion and victorious warrior.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8843.

According to Spinazzola –

this represents Nike and Attalus I [269–197 BC, ruler of Pergamon who won an important victory over the Galatians] and the painting is from Pompeii.

See Spinazzola V., 1953. Pompei alla luce degli Scavi Nuovi di Via dell’Abbondanza (anni 1910-1923). Roma: La Libreria della Stato, p. 621, note 122.

According to Pagano and Prisciandaro, this may possibly be from Villa San Marco.

See Pagano, M. and Prisciandaro, R., 2006. Studio sulle provenienze degli oggetti rinvenuti negli scavi borbonici del regno di Napoli. Naples: Nicola Longobardi, p. 240, Footnote 26: Ade iii, 39,197.

(Note: this has also been included in Villa San Marco, room 8).

In its exhibition catalogue, Moscow Museum described this as -

“Mural depicting Victoria and the victorious warrior before the trophy.

Painting on plaster Pompeii, between the years 45 - 79 AD.

In the centre - a trophy in the form of a Gallic weapon on a wooden doll.

On the right - the goddess of victory Victoria in the form of a winged maiden with a palm branch.

Nearby is a young warrior winner with a wreath on his head.”

Pompeii or Villa San Marco, Stabiae? Drawing of painting of Vittoria, tropaion and victorious warrior.

See Raccolta de più interessante Dipinture e di più belle Musaici rinvenuti negli Scavi di Ercolano, di Pompei, e di Stabia. 1843. Napoli.

Original now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8843.

According to Hodske –

This drawing was from an unknown house and is now in Naples Archaeological Museum, inventory number 8843.

See Hodske, J., 2007/ Mythologische Bildthemen in den Häusern Pompejis. Ruhpolding: Rutzen, (p. 282, taf 204, 2, Kat. 848).

Pompeii, Herculaneum or Villa San Marco, Stabia? Drawing of painting by La Volpe of Vittoria, tropaion and victorious warrior.

According to RMB, this is described as –

“ ………… One of these is precisely the painting of a plaster found in the excavations of Herculaneum, and specifically in Civita one of its nearby neighbours; a painting that we have exactly outlined in this table. ………..

When this beautiful painting came out of the excavations it was drawn and engraved by our Herculaneum Academics, who rendered it for public reason in Volume III of the Paintings table XXXIX, to the explanation of which we leave those readers who desire greater knowledge.”

See Real Museo Borbonici, Vol. 7, 1831, Tav. VII. (Antico dipinto Ercolanese).

(“......... Uno di questi ci presenta per l’appunto il dipinto di un intonaco rinvenuto nelle scavazioni di Ercolano, e propriamente in Civita una delle sue adjacenze; dipinto che abbiamo fatto esattamente delineare in questa tavola. ..........

Allorché questo bel dipinto venne fuori dagli Scavi fu fatto disegnare ed incidere da' nostri Accademici Ercolanesi, i quali lo reser di pubblica ragione nel Tomo III delle Pitture tavola XXXIX, alla spiegazione della quale rimettiamo que’ lettori che han vaghezza di maggiore erudizione.”)

Vedi Real Museo Borbonici, Vol. 7, 1831, Tav. VII. (Antico dipinto Ercolanese).

Pompeii, Herculaneum or Villa San Marco, Stabiae? Wall painting of Vittoria, tropaion and victorious warrior.

See Antichità di Ercolano: Tomo Terzo: Le Pitture 3, 1762, tav. 39, p. 197.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. October 2014. East wall of exedra. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. October 2014. South, or rear wall of exedra. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. October 2014. West wall of exedra. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. 2015/2016. Looking north across exedra to south side colonnade. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. October 2014.

Looking north from modern entrance/exit, across exedra to south side colonnade. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. October 2014.

Looking towards exterior south side of exedra, now an entrance/exit. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2005. Gladiators Barracks – Pompeii dog sheltering from heat.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2005. Looking west along south side colonnade.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. Looking west along south side colonnade.

Photographed 1970-79 by Günther Einhorn, picture courtesy of his son Ralf Einhorn.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. March 2014. Looking west along south side.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2007. Rooms on south side looking west.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. June 2019. Looking west along south side. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. July 2021. Looking north-east from south-west corner.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. September 2021. Looking north-east from south-west corner. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. Between 1819 and 1832, painting by W. Gell, looking north-east from south-west corner.

According to Gell – “The 4 angles had each 3 blue columns and the centre on each side two. The rest were alternately red and yellow.”

See Gell, W. Pompeii unpublished [Dessins de l'édition de 1832 donnant le résultat des fouilles post 1819 (?)] vol II, pl. 56 verso.

Bibliothèque de l'Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, collections Jacques Doucet, Identifiant numérique Num MS180 (2).

See book in INHA Use Etalab Licence Ouverte

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. 1826. Detailed drawing of south-west corner and surrounding rooms.

See Poirot, P. A., 1826. Carnets de dessins de Pierre-Achille Poirot. Tome 2 : Pompeia, pl. 40.

See Book on INHA  Document placé sous « Licence Ouverte / Open Licence » Etalab 

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2007. Rooms in south-west corner.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2007. Rooms in south-west corner on west side.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2007. Rooms on west side.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2007. Room on west side.

VIII.7.16 Pompeii. December 2007. Room on west side.

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