FLOOR MOSAIC OF THE WOMEN'S APODYTERIUM, 1-25 CE. CENTRAL BATHS, HERCULANEUM The main bath complex of Herculaneum had a large section exclusively for men and a much smaller one for women. The changeroom has preserved its barrel-vaulted ceiling ribbbed in plaster, a shelf for leaving one's clothes, a bench clad in cement all around the room, and a dramatic black and white floor mosaic with a wonderful triton occupying most of the pictorial space, a muscular nude man carrying a staff or oar in one hand and a fish, presumably an offering to the disrobing ladies all around him. His legs become snaky tentacles with many curls. Dolphins, an Eros, and a calamaro complete the scene. The triton is proudly naked: not even in a space reserved for women could they escape the omnipresence of the phallus.
#MosaicMonday takes us into the women's section of the Central Baths of #Herculaneum. This is the changeroom or #apodyterium with a splendid ribbed vault (for her pleasure) and a black and white #mosaic depicting a tentacled #triton and some marine life, all from the early C1 CE. #AncientBluesky 🏺
