VI.1.1 Pompeii. Casa del Triclinio or House of the Triclinium.

Caupona and Hospitium. Excavated 1770 and 1787.

According to Fiorelli,

VI.1.1. “Il primo edifizio che s’incontra a sinistra della via, addossato alle mura della citta, venne da molti creduto abitazione del custode della Porta: ma esso non fu che un diversorium, consistente di un grande triclinio ombreggiato da pergulae, co’suoi tre letti di fabbrica, e le pareti in parte adorne di pitture: nonche di una cella penaria, contenente la nicchia de’Penati, in cui era dipinta l’Abbondanza distesa su di un pulvinare, con cornucopia in una mano e nell’altra il cantaro, avendo dinanzi una tavola, e su di questa una cassetta ed un vaso. Un altro triclinio invernale o coverto faceva anche parte del diversorium, ed aveva inoltre una scaletta per montare ai lastrici o cenacoli, e poco discosto la latrina.”

(translation - VI.1.1 – The first building that one meets on the left side of the roadway, leaning against the city wall, was thought by many to have been the dwelling of the custodian of the Herculaneum Gate: but it was none other than an inn or lodging-house, consisting of a large triclinium shaded by a pergola, with its three masonry couches and the walls partly decorated with paintings: and a small room, containing the niche for the worship of the household gods, in which was painted Abbondanza laying on a couch, with cornucopia in one hand and a kantharos in the other, with a table in front, on which was a box and a cup/vase/pot. Another winter, or covered, triclinium was also part of the inn, and in addition had a staircase for going up to the dining room, and the latrine was not far away.

See Pappalardo, U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p.47)

See Fiorelli, G. 1875. Descrizione, (p.76)

Herculaneum Gate, VI.1.1 and VI.1.2. May 2005. Looking north-east.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Entrance doorway.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. July 2011. Entrance. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. May 2010. Entrance doorway on south side of Herculaneum Gate. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. Entrance.

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

According to Garcia y Garcia, this inn, sheltered by the city walls and with a beautiful well-preserved sacellum, was hit by a bomb during the night of 14th to 15th September 1943. It was nearly completely destroyed, even its perimeter wall.

The dividing wall to the peristyle of the House of the Vestals also fell.

By September 1982, the entrance steps and its internal walls were reduced to a ruined pile.

To the west of this house, the same bomb destroyed also part of the beautiful Samnite steps, that permitted access to the public wall.

At the foot of it, in the public area, was a well-known well.

See Garcia y Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. (p.66)

VI.1.1 Pompeii. September 2004. Entrance doorway, with steps to the wall.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. May 2010.

Looking west towards entrance onto Via Consolare on south side of Herculaneum Gate. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. May 2010. Looking west. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. May 2010.

Looking west from steps towards entrance onto Via Consolare on south side of Herculaneum Gate. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. May 2010. Looking west along steps to the City Wall. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.

(For more photos of area behind the steps, see Walls - in north-west corner.)

VI.1.1 Pompeii. May 2010. Public steps to the walls. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. September 2005. Public steps to the walls.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. c.1900-1930. Public steps to the walls.

Photo by Esther Boise Van Deman (c) American Academy in Rome. VD_Archive_Ph_232.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1890-1900. Public steps to the walls.

Photo courtesy of British School at Rome Digital Collections.

See http://www.bsrdigitalcollections.it/details.aspx?ID=14254&ST=SS

VI.1.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Looking east towards entrance to inn or dwelling.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. September 2005. Looking east to entrance doorway to inn or dwelling.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1961. Looking east to entrance doorway to inn or dwelling. 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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VI.1.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Looking east.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1824 drawing by Mazois showing plan of house.

According to Mazois, this was a plan of a house situated near to the city gate, at the base of the city walls.

The entrance (1) of this house presents into a small indoor gallery (2).

At the rear of the gallery are the stairs (3), which lead to a terrace placed above the gallery (see fig V), and to the apartment of the master.

The servant of the house would have slept in the small room (4), near to the stairs.

The kitchen must have been placed either in the large room (5) which was used also as a winter dining room, or else in the small room (10), near to the domestic lararium (11).

The courtyard or rather the garden (6), had a small channel (7) to receive rainwater and lead it into a cistern from where it could be drawn, when required, through a shaft-like opening in the form of a well (8).

Half of this courtyard was covered by a pergola, under which was a summer triclinium (9).

See Mazois, F., 1824. Les Ruines de Pompei: Second Partie. Paris: Firmin Didot. (p.45-6, pl. IX. fig. III)

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1824 drawing by Mazois showing cross-section of house, looking north, fig. V.

See Mazois, F., 1824. Les Ruines de Pompei: Second Partie. Paris: Firmin Didot. (p.45-6, pl. IX. fig. V).

VI.1.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Looking east to rebuilt east wall in the area of rooms 3 (the stairs) and room 4.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking north-west towards garden area with triclinium (under blue sheeting) from VI.1.4.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking north-west towards triclinium (under blue sheeting) from VI.1.4.

According to Jashemski, -

the small inn (excavated in 1787) just inside the Porta Ercolano had a garden with a masonry triclinium shaded by a vine-covered pergola.

The holes in the rear wall, in which the ends of the beams of the pergola were set, were visible at the time of excavation.

A gutter along the south edge of the garden collected rain water which was deposited in the cistern opening in the south-west corner of the garden.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.119)

According to Fiorelli, the triclinium had three couches of brick, and the walls were in part adorned by pictures.

See Pappalardo, U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p. 47)

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1961. Looking towards north wall of garden area, 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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VI.1.1 Pompeii. December 2007.

Looking north towards triclinium (under blue sheeting) in garden area, and niches on north and east wall of rooms on its east side, taken from VI.1.4.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. December 2007.

Looking north towards rooms with niches on north and east walls, and site of (winter) triclinium, from VI.1.4.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking north-west across garden area with triclinium (under blue sheeting), from VI.1.4.

According to Soprano –

Ubicazione: giardino. L. medius, m.3.95; l. imus, m.4.00; l. summus, m.3.75.

Bibliog. Bonucci, A., Pompei descritta (3 ed., Napoli, 1827), p.85; Mazois, F., Les ruines de Pompei, II. P.46. tav.ix. fig. 3 e 5;

Fiorelli, op. C., p.76; Dyer, Th. H., Pompeii (London, 1891), p.307, 308, e piante.

Era un grande triclinio ombreggiato da pergolato. Il Mazois afferma che “i fori nei quali riposavano le estremita dei travi destinati a sostenere la pergola sono perfettamente conservati”; attualmente essi non sono piu visibili che in parte, in seguito alla costruzione proprio sul l. summus di un muro di sostegno perpendicolare alla parete di fondo del giardino.

Il l. imus era piu lungo del l. summus; nessuno dei tre letti era addossato ai muri, il l. medius dista cm.50 dal muro di fondo, intonacato e con tracce di un pannello quadrato. Dalla descrizione del Mazois risulta che tutto il triclinio era rivestito di stucco e di pitture di esecuzione piuttosto rozza.

Manca la mensa.

See Soprano, P. (1950). I triclini all’aperto di Pompei. (In Pompeiana, raccolta di studi per il secondo centenario degli scavi di Pompei. Napoli, Gaetano Macchiaroli, Editore, P. 300, no.13).

VI.1.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking towards north-east corner with two niches.

On the north wall was a niche that had been in the remains of a windowless sacrarium

On the east wall was another niche which was outside the sacrarium, at the end of a passage from the triclinium.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Arched niche on east wall of room 10 (see Mazois plan), photo taken from VI.1.4.

Originally this niche was at the end of a passage from the triclinium.

The wall around the niche was painted with red stucco. Red, rose-like flowers were painted inside the niche.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14. (p.43, no.132)

See Fröhlich, T., 1991. Lararien und Fassadenbilder in den Vesuvstädten. Mainz: von Zabern. (L55, Picture 37,1)

VI.1.1 Pompeii. May 2003. Arched niche on east wall. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. May 2003. Niche with vaulted ceiling, on north wall of room 11, see Mazois plan.

Originally this was at the east end of the north wall of a windowless sacrarium. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. May 2003. Niche with vaulted ceiling, on north wall. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. Drawing by Mazois, 1824, of windowless sacrarium, looking north.

See Mazois, F., 1824. Les Ruines de Pompei : Second Partie. Paris: Firmin Didot. (p. 47 and pl. X, fig. 1).

VI.1.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Niche with vaulted ceiling, on north wall.

Originally this was at the east end of the north wall of a windowless sacrarium.

The walls of the niche were coated with white stucco with floral ornaments.

The rear wall was outlined with red stripes and had a painting of a wreathed figure.

On the floor in front, but near the north wall, stood a masonry altar decorated with the figure of a pig which wore a garland on its head.

See Fiorelli G., 1860. Pompeianarum antiquitatum historia, Vol. 1: 1748 - 1818, Naples, ii, 36 (March 8 1787).

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14. (p.43, no.132, Pl.40, 3 & 4).

See Mazois, F., 1824. Les Ruines de Pompei : Second Partie. Paris: Firmin Didot. (p. 47 and pl. 10, 1 & 2).

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1824 drawing by Mazois of painting in the niche.

Windowless sacrarium, at east end of north wall.

Mazois described a figure reclining on a couch, with a green mantle wrapped around her legs.

In her left hand she held a cornucopia and in her right she held a kantharos.

A table, on which were a cup and a box, was in front of the couch.

Above was a heavy garland with fruit.

See Mazois, F., 1824. Les Ruines de Pompei : Second Partie. Paris: Firmin Didot. (p. 47 and pl. X, fig. 2).

According to Dyer:

“As this house stood close to the Herculaneum Gate, and the steps for ascending the walls, it had been conjectured that it may have belonged to the person who had charge of the gate.

The entrance led into a covered passage or corridor, running along the whole side of the house; at the further end of which was a staircase leading to a small apartment and to a terrace which extended over the length of the passage. Close to the staircase was the room of a slave, probably the only one in the house.

At the end of the passage at the foot of the stairs, a door on the left led into what seemed to have been a winter dining room.

Behind this room was the kitchen, and quite in the corner of the house, a small lararium, or domestic chapel.

This place, which was a remarkable one in so small a house, had no window and could have been lit only by lamps.

A stone bench ran around two sides of it. At the extremity of it, facing the entrance, was a niche with a painting, now almost obliterated, of Fortuna, Pomona or some such goddess, reposing on a couch and holding a cornucopia.  Before it was an altar.

The greater part of the house was engrossed by a court or garden, which appears, from holes intended for that purpose, to have been covered with a trellis, and thus answered in some measure the purpose of an atrium or peristyle.

It contained a stone triclinium, where the family during the fine weather, during the greater part of the year, probably took their meals.

Behind the triclinium was a niche for the statue of some god, to which the pious owners might make their libations; and in the corner of the court near the street door was a puteal or well.”

See Dyer, T., 1867. The Ruins of Pompeii. London: Bell and Daldy. (p.74-75).

VI.1.1 Pompeii. Three paintings of Egyptian swamps forming part of a wall, found in one of the shops situated near to the Gate of the city of Pompeii.

Many reeds were painted, plants of the Nile with leaves, and flowers of white colour, some ducks, two hippos, and three crocodiles, on one of which a pygmy was seated.

See Antichità di Ercolano: Tomo Setto: Le Pitture 5, 1779, Tav LXVI, p.295.  

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1817. Description by Romanelli.

“On the left side corresponds a house that is today almost opened.

There are only some remains of rooms, in one of which one can see a triclinium.

Three paintings merit attention which were found in the plaster on the walls.

The first showed a woman with crown of that time in the act of touching a lyre of five strings with her left hand, and the other showed a young man, reading a papyrus held between his two hands. He was painted sitting on a large wall, which perhaps could have shown the public walls of Pompeii.

In another room, there was the valuable painting, which represented in three pieces the swamps of Egypt, in which many reeds were painted, and plants of the Nile with leaves, and flowers of white colour, some ducks, two hippos, and three crocodiles, on one of which a pygmy was seated.

See Romanelli, D. 1817. Viaggio a Pompei, Parte Prima, p.91.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1817. Description by Romanelli -

“The described paintings sawn from the walls were placed in the royal museum at Portico, where I have had the pleasure of admiring them. In the fifth volume of the Herculaneum paintings there are drawings.” (see above and below).

See Romanelli, D. 1817. Viaggio a Pompei, Parte Prima, p.92.

VI.1.1 Pompeii.

Drawing by V. Campana of painting found on a wall in the house, showing a woman with a laurel crown in the act of touching a golden lyre of five strings with the fingers of her left hand.

See Antichità di Ercolano: Tomo Setto: Le Pitture 5, 1779, Tav LIV, p.241.  

See Romanelli, D. 1817. Viaggio a Pompei, Parte Prima, p.91.

VI.1.1 Pompeii.

Drawing by V. Campana of painting found on a wall in the house, showing a young man, reading a papyrus scroll held between his two hands.

See Antichità di Ercolano: Tomo Setto: Le Pitture 5, 1779, Tav LV, p.245.  

See Romanelli, D. 1817. Viaggio a Pompei, Parte Prima, p.91.

VI.1.1 Pompeii. Two drawings on a white background were found together in a house near the gates of Pompeii and at the foot of the wall of the city, the walls are themselves covered with similar partitions to those that occupy the bottom of each of the frescoes.

See Roux, H. (1840). Herculanum et Pompei recueil générale des peintures, bronzes, mosaïques, v4 Peintures série 3, Figures Isolées. (pl. 101, p. 195).

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1840 description of drawings.

See Roux, H. (1840). Herculanum et Pompei recueil générale des peintures, bronzes, mosaïques, v4 Peintures série 3, Figures Isolées. (p.195).

VI.1.1 Pompeii. 1840 description of drawings (continued).

See Roux, H. (1840). Herculanum et Pompei recueil générale des peintures, bronzes, mosaïques, v4 Peintures série 3, Figures Isolées. (p.196).

VI.1.1 Pompeii or VIII.3.14 Pompeii. Two painted wall decorations, from different places in Pompeii.

On the left – Maison du triclinium, painted floral candelabra, (possibly from ala.)

On the right, from the “Rue Grande”, (the large road – Via Consolare).

(Note, however, VIII.3.14 could also be considered as the Maison du Triclinium, see note on picture below).

See Chenavard, Antoine-Marie (1787-1883) et al. Voyage d'Italie, croquis Tome 3, pl. 121.

INHA Identifiant numérique : NUM MS 703 (3). See Book on INHA

Document placé sous « Licence Ouverte / Open Licence » Etalab

VI.1.1 Pompeii or VIII.3.14 Pompeii. Mai 1823? Paintings by Chenavard of wall decorations, from different places in Pompeii.

The INHA web site records : Reproduction de différents motifs de la peinture pariétale, dont deux empruntés à la Casa della Regina Carolina.

On the left, from the “Rue Grande” (large road- Via Consolare).

Lower centre, zoccolo of the Maison du triclinium.

Right, Maison du triclinium.

(Note, however, this could possibly be from VIII.3.14., as stated above).

See Chenavard, Antoine-Marie (1787-1883) et al. Voyage d'Italie, croquis Tome 3, pl. 120.

INHA Identifiant numérique : NUM MS 703 (3). See Book on INHA

Document placé sous « Licence Ouverte / Open Licence » Etalab