IX.6.g Pompeii. House of C. Cornelius Clu……

Excavated 1878. Bombed in 1943. East side not fully excavated.

IX.6.g Pompeii. Plan and descriptions based on BdI and PPM.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), September 1880, p. 194.

See Carratelli, G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici: Vol. IX. Roma: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, p. 733.

Key:

1:     Fauces

2:     Atrium

3:     Ala

4:     Peristyle

a:     Cubiculum

b:     Cubiculum

c:      Oecus

d:     Tablinum

e:     Corridor

f:      Room now reburied

g:     Room now reburied

h:     Room with paintings of flying cupids

i:      Small room possibly a latrine with stairs

k:     Triclinium

l:      Room without plaster

m:    Ala, once richly decorated

n:     Room with traces of second style decoration

o:     Room without plaster

p:     Room with white plaster compartmentalised by red stripes and with a small niche with half columns and a pediment

q:     Room with traces of second style decoration

r:      Room with white plaster, now reburied

s:      Room now reburied

IX.6.f Pompeii, on left. December 2018.

Looking north-east to entrance doorways, with IX.6.g, on right. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

IX.6.g Pompeii, on right. December 2018. Looking west along north side of roadway. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Entrance doorway, looking north.

According to Della Corte, this was an old and spacious dwelling, renovated in the last years of Pompeii.

Its wall decorations from earlier times had been saved, but it was conspicuous for the severity and regularity of its architecture of the Samnite period.

A signet/seal was found in the house giving part of the name of the proprietor –

C COR CLV

C. Cor(nelius) Clu…… (CIL X 8058,23).

According to CIL X, on the handle were grapes.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum.  Inventory number 111604.

See Della Corte, M., 1965. Case ed Abitanti di Pompei. Napoli: Fausto Fiorentino. (p. 194).

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Looking north along entrance corridor to site of atrium “2”, tablinum “d” and peristyle “4”.

On the east (right side), the house was never fully excavated.

On the east (right) of the entrance fauces 1, can be seen the doorway into a small room (room “i”) containing steps to upper floor.

According to Hobson, this small room possibly could also have been a latrine.

See Hobson, B. 2009. Pompeii, Latrines and Down Pipes. Oxford, Hadrian Books, (p.515 plan)

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Looking south in small room “i” on east of entrance corridor, stairs with latrine?

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Looking south across top of small room “i”, from room “h” in south-east corner of atrium.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Looking north across site of atrium “2”, towards tablinum “d” and peristyle “4”.

In the north wall of the peristyle, may be the remains of the large niche, as described by Boyce.

According to Garcia y Garcia, this house was bombed during the same raid on 16th September 1943 that also destroyed IX.6.4.

The bomb destroyed the columns of the peristyle, together with the four rooms on the west of it.

This included the perimeter wall that divided it from IX.6.4.

See Garcia y Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. (p.153)

According to Mau, upon excavation nothing was seen of painted walls in the atrium or in the side rooms, and it seemed that at the time of the catastrophe there was nothing there other than raw plaster.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1880, p.267.

The rooms on the east side of the house, rooms “q” “r” “s” “f” and “g”, appear to have been reburied.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Doorway to cubiculum “a”, on west side of atrium “2”.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Doorway to second cubiculum “b”, on west side of atrium.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Looking south-east across atrium, from doorway in south wall of oecus “c”.

Looking towards doorway to room “h” in south-east corner of atrium.

According to Schefold, a painted medallion of the head of Aphrodite and Ares? was found in this oecus.

See Schefold, K., 1962. Vergessenes Pompeji. Bern: Francke. (p. 137, Taf 180,1)

According to Mau, the walls of this room were painted in the IV style on a white background, and in the middle compartments of the left and right walls were two painted medallions (0,27 diameter).

Seen on the left wall (west) was a painted head of a woman turning to the left with a serious and thoughtful expression.

Over her right shoulder, the head of a young boy (cupid?) who was looking in the same direction as her.

Seen on the right wall (east) was a painted head crowned with foliage (?Bacchus) which has nearly vanished.

The middle compartment of the north wall was occupied by a window.

In each of the side compartments of the side walls and in the rear (north) was seen a flying cupid, turning always towards the centre of the wall.

On the left wall, to the left     – playing the lyre.

On the left wall, to the right   – carrying two flutes in the right hand, and a lowered tambourine in the left hand.

On the rear wall, to the left   – carrying a green object but not clear, it could have seemed like a quiver, but it had at the top – towards where it thinned – something pointed. A red ribbon was attached.

On the rear wall, to the right – holding an object, completely vanished, in a raised hand towards the left.

On the right wall, to the left   – carrying a small, low basket with a handle in the left hand and a ribbon lowered in the right hand.

On the right wall, to the right – holding a shepherd’s crook in the left hand, and pan-pipes in the right hand.

They were 0,24 high, naked outside of a green flying robe in the guise of a shawl.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1880, p. 268-9.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Looking north at remains of north-west corner of tablinum “d”.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Remains of yellow painted plaster from north-west corner of tablinum “d”.

According to Mau, the tablinum was painted in the IV style.

The middle sections of the walls were divided into three compartments, the middle painted with architectural features.

The side panels were yellow and in the centre of each was painted a group of vases.

In the centre compartments were two large landscape paintings with figures – almost completely vanished (1,72 high, the one on the right 1.06 wide, the one on the left, 1.04 wide).

In the painting on the right, in the lowest part to the right, Mau could recognise a figure that reminded him of Diana, as she was seen in the painting by Acteon.

The painting on the left showed on the left a steep mountain, with a valley on the right, where traces of animals could be seen, and with a building on the extreme left.  On the mountain three figures could be seen.  Mau could not tell if they were statues or real figures: there was a woman with someone on each side.  The figure on the right was feminine; the other was small and Mau could not determine its sex. The woman had a raised right hand and lowered her look – so that her head could be seen in profile – towards the same side, above the latter person.

Above the painting on the right, was seen a type of frieze, (0,23m high, 0,41m wide), in yellow on a red background. Between two columns was a cockerel (looking right) with his head raised, and more to the right a vase; on the right column lay an object, but it was not definable.

The upper parts of the walls were occupied by the usual architectural paintings.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1880 p. 267-8.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. Looking south across triclinium “k”, in south-west corner of peristyle.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. West wall of triclinium “k”, with small window to light-yard of IX.6.d.

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. North-west corner of peristyle, looking west towards remains of IX.6.4.

The room on the extreme right of the photo, may be the room (in IX.6.g) with the niche as described by Boyce.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14. (p. 87, no.435 and Pl.3, 6)

IX.6.g Pompeii. Niche set into west wall of room in north-west corner of peristyle.

According to Boyce, in a small room in the north-west corner of the peristyle, in the middle of the west wall was an arched niche.

Its size – h.0.32, w.0.31, d.0.15, height above floor 1.42.

This was adorned with an aedicula façade of half-columns on each side supporting a cornice.

The cornice ran around the curve of the arch instead of a pediment.

The lower half of each column was red, the upper half white

This inside walls of the niche were decorated with many small irregular blotches of red on a white background.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1881, p. 23.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14. (p. 87, no.435 and Pl.3, 6).

According to Boyce –

in the north wall of the peristyle, near the north-east corner, is a large rectangular niche (h.1.13, w.0.87, d.0.38, height above floor 0.88).

The walls of the niche were coated with uniform white stucco and in its floor were two square depressions, (0.12 by 0.08; 0.10 by 0.13) as if for statuette bases.

He thought the niche was unusually large for an ordinary lararium.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1881, p. 22.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14.  (p. 87, no. 434).

According to Jashemski, the peristyle garden at the rear of the tablinum was enclosed by a portico on the south, east, north and most of the west sides.

The portico was supported by 12 columns, and 2 engaged columns, painted red below and white above. 

In the north wall of the peristyle near the north-east corner was a large rectangular niche.

The garden is completely destroyed today.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p. 239)

IX.6.g Pompeii. May 2005. West side of IX.6.g in foreground, looking west towards remains of IX.6.4, in upper right.

South wall of garden area of IX.6.4, approximately where the figure is standing.