POLYCHROME EMBLEMA FROM TOR MARANCIA, C. 150 CE. VATICAN MUSEUMS This is how we do it Roman-style. From a dig in 1817-1823 on the estate of Tor Marancia this small-tessera mosaic emerged from the ruins of a C2 CE villa. The mosaic begins with a nested series of black and white frames, beginning on the outside edges with a lotus-like pattern in white formed by overlapping half-circles. Further in, a braid of guilloches surrounds a white frame and then a checkerboard pattern. Hanging from the inmost frame are a plucked fowl and a fish, with a large bundle of dates from a palm next to them at right. Below, a bucket of seafood stands next to another fish, and at lower right, a large bundle of, what else, asparagus. This vivid collection of food represents the intangible spirit of xenia, the love of the stranger, of the guest, which made a good centrepiece for a dining room.

For #MosaicMonday this week, an #emblema from the #triclinium of the villa of Numisia #Procula at #TorMarancia along the via #Ardeatina, c. 150 CE. The #polychrome centre is full of delicious delicacies representing the host's #xenia or guest-welcoming. #AncientBluesky 🏺

IMAGINARY ARCHITECTURE, 62-79 CE, HOUSE OF THE VETTII, POMPEII The southern triclinium of the House of the Vettii is decorated as if the three central frescoed panels on the three walls of the room were flanked by illusory windows giving the viewer the sense of looking out over the upper floors of an urban streetscape, with a complex series of pergolated terraces atop ornate buildings against a white background (a grey day at the seaside?). Were Pompeian houses really like this upstairs, or is this merely stage-set fantasy? There are no human figures to distract us from the three main scenes. But this architecture does pull us out of the room, lovely though it is, and makes us think of an outside world, clean, splendid, and free of the mess of human life. Perhaps we are on a Roman Olympus, flattered, as guests, to be in the abode of the gods.

#FrescoFriday returns us to #Pompeii and the southern #triclinium of the #HouseoftheVettii, where the #fresco architecture is trying to convince us we're way up high, looking out at the roof terraces of our neighbours. But did #Roman skylines ever really look like this? #AncientBluesky 🏺

MOSAIC EMBLEMA, 1-50 CE. MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO NAZIONALE DI NAPOLI This emblema or mosaic floor centrepiece comes from a house (IX.2.27) confusingly called the House of the Wedding of Neptune and Amphitrite, the House of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and the House of Princess Margherita. It was excavated in 1849 and 1869, and was found in a cubiculum on the east side of a peristyle, but it seems more suited to a triclinium. Against a white background surrounded by a black frame is this mosaic in opus vermiculatum. The upper half has a display of fish, a sea bass above three red mullets. A branch with leaves and berries divides the two registers and below it is a group of marsh birds bound together with a string: two mallards and an Egyptian goose. The colours and shading of the emblema are delicate, and the birds are shown in a credible depth of field.

There's something fishy this #MosaicMonday, in this #emblema from #Pompeii via #Naples. This food-focused #mosaic was found in a #cubiculum or bedroom, but it really seems to belong to a #triclinium or dining room. #AncientBluesky 🏺

Summer dining in style at the House of the Ephebe, Pompeii. Cushioned recliners on three sides, shaded by columns, frescoes in Pompeiian red, green, and blue—luxury living in the Bay of Naples.
#Pompeii #AncientRome #Triclinium #Archaeology

The House of the Ephebe, named for a bronze statue with a candelabrum, features rare opus sectile flooring—marble and glass from across the Empire—and vivid Fourth Style frescoes.
Photo: March 25, Pompeii
#Pompeii #OpusSectile #RomanArt #Fresco #Triclinium

EROTES AT WORK, 62-79 CE. HOUSE OF THE VETTII, POMPEII The long chair-level frieze in the triclinium of the House of the Vettii in Pompeii shows Erotes performing various activities, sometimes described as "humorous", but I think a better word would be "adorable". This detail shows a perfume workshop. Against a black background, two cherubs at right are pounding ingredients in a large mortar, while to the left a third cherub, at a workbench covered with phials, flowers, and tools, is holding a glass bottle of oil and looking at the other two as if waiting for them to call him over and add it to their mixture. Further to the left is a large cabinet with its doors open, in which we can see more containers holding presumably scented ingredients, all presided over by a little white statuette of Venus on the top shelf. At far left a pot of perfumed oil is cooking over a little fire. Offscreen at left, a little Psyche is sitting and judging the results. "More bergamot, I think!"

For #FrescoFriday we return to the #triclinium of the #HouseoftheVettii in #Pompeii to marvel at the endless, detailed activity of #Erotes at work. #Perfumery was an abiding interest in Pompeian #frescoes, probably because the production of #perfume was an important industry in #Campania.

Image of the day – 30 The furniture looks quite modern, built of finely polished timber and using pleasant fabrics, even scattered with cushions just like a modern home.

Ever wondered what it would be like to live in a Roman villa? It would depend on whether you owned the place or worked there as a slave. But you can get a rough idea by looking at this article.

#Roman #Villa #TheNewt #Reconstruction #DiningRoom #Triclinium

jhm.scilla.org.uk/2024/08/15/i...

#Pompeii Un art de vivre #triclinium Exposition @museemaillol 2011-2012

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#JNA #Oplontis #Diaeta
+ Photos de #triclinium et de #cubiculum

locipompeiani.free.fr/pages/oplontis…