I.11.6 Pompeii. Casa della Venere in Bikini or House of Venus in the Bikini

or Domus of Maximus. Linked to I.11.7.

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I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 1, atrium, looking west from room 4.

I.11.6 Pompeii. December 2018.

Looking across table supports towards window in south wall and towards south-west corner of tablinum. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Doorway of room 5, tablinum, Looking into the south-west corner.

I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 5, west wall of tablinum with remains of medallion with female face.

I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 5, tablinum. West wall with stairs to upper floor, and amphora in south-west corner.

I.11.6 Pompeii. 1959.

Room 5, tablinum. South-west corner of tablinum, with view through window to garden.

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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The structure with the corrugated roof has been removed completely since this photograph was taken revealing the full wall decoration.

The small portion of a painted satyr can now be seen in its entirety.

See the wall painting of Dionysus/Bacchus with Silenus, tambourine and satyr, from the south wall.

I.11.6 Pompeii. May 2015. Room 5, south wall in south-west corner of tablinum. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.

I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 5, south wall in south-west corner of tablinum.

I.11.6 Pompeii. May 2024. Room 5, south wall of tablinum.

Wall painting of Dionysus/Bacchus with Silenus, tambourine and satyr. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 5, south wall of tablinum.

Wall painting of Dionysus with Silenus, tambourine and satyr.

See Bragantini, de Vos, Badoni, 1981. Pitture e Pavimenti di Pompei, Parte 1. Rome: ICCD. (p.153).

Kuivalainen describes –

A composition of two adult figures and a child.

In the middle stands a youth with his weight of his right foot; he wears a red cloak with blue edgings, covering his thighs and wrapping around to the left elbow; his curly hair with a wreath is parted in the middle and falls to his shoulders; he looks into the distance; in his left arm he holds a thyrsus with ribbons and pine cone on the top, while in the right hand he holds a cantharus, from which he pours wine onto a sitting panther. In front of the youth, to the left, stands a small naked satyr with a pine wreath on his head., holding a bunch of grapes in both hands. Behind the youth, on the right, stands a Silenus wearing a light blue cloak covering his legs; he strikes the tambourine with his right hand, supporting it with his left, against his shoulder.

Kuivalainen comments –

A nonchalant Bacchus accompanied by a musician Silenus and a mini thiasus. The small satyr may be Comus.

See Kuivalainen, I., 2021. The Portrayal of Pompeian Bacchus. Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum 140. Helsinki: Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, (F9, p.165).

I.11.6 Pompeii. May 2015.

Room 5, south wall of tablinum. Detail from wall painting of Dionysus/Bacchus. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.

I.11.6 Pompeii. December 2018. 

Room 5, south-east corner of tablinum with doorway to corridor, and window overlooking garden in south wall. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

I.11.6 Pompeii. May 2015.

Room 5, south wall of tablinum with window overlooking garden, and door to corridor. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.

I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 5, south wall of tablinum with window overlooking garden, and door to corridor.

According to Jashemski, the small garden had a covered passageway on the east and a water channel along this side to catch roof water. 

The garden was excavated between 1952 and 1954.

A terracotta puteal covered the cistern opening in the southwest corner of the garden. 

There was also a sundial and a small statue base in the garden when excavated. 

There were garden paintings on the south and west walls.

From the entrance, a large picture window in the tablinum permitted a fine view to the garden beyond. 

There was a niche lararium in the south wall of the passageway on the east.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.51)

I.11.6 Pompeii. 1972. Room 6, painted decoration in south-west corner. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1959. Room 6, looking towards south-west corner with puteal.  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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I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, west wall of garden area with remains of garden painting.

I.11.6 Pompeii. 1972. Room 6, west wall of garden area.  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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1959. Room 6, west wall of garden area. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1972.

Room 6, detail from south end of west wall of garden area. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1972. Room 6, detail from south end of west wall of garden area.  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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1972.

Room 6, detail from north end of west wall of garden area. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1972. Room 6, detail from upper north end of west wall of garden area. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1959. Room 6, west wall of garden area with window from tablinum, on right. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, west wall of garden area with remains of garden painting.

I.11.6 Pompeii. 1959. Room 6, west wall of garden area. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1957. Room 6, garden area. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, south wall of garden area with remains of garden painting, and niche.

I.11.6 Pompeii. 1964.

Looking into room 6 towards south wall, from window in tablinum. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1959.  Room 6, south wall of garden area with garden painting, and niche, on left. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. 1972. Room 6, detail of painting on south wall. 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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I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, south wall of garden area with remains of garden painting.

I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, niche on south wall of garden area. 

I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, niche. Arched niche on east side of south wall in garden.

According to Giacobello, the niche was found on a wall frescoed in yellow and was part of a painted wall decoration.

The niche was made in the last period of the house, when the interior decoration of the garden was done.

See Giacobello, F., 2008. Larari Pompeiani: Iconografia e culto dei Lari in ambito domestico.  Milano: LED Edizioni. (p.257)

I.11.6 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, east wall of garden area. 

According to Mileti, the closed window, was actually door of a room that used to belong to the house in an earlier phase [now part of I.11.8/5].

See Mileti, M. C., 2000. La casa I, 11, 6-7 a Pompeii: Rivista di Studi Pompeiani XI, p. 103, fig. 6.

Part 4      Part 1      Part 2      Plan