VI.3.7 Pompeii. Casa di Musica. Excavated 1809.

VI.3.7/8/9 Pompeii. May 2011. Looking towards entrance doorways. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

VI.3.7 Pompeii, not VI.3.10 as shown on photo. Pre-1937-39. Drain in road outside entrance to VI.3.7.

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 017.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Entrance on Via Consolare looking south.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2005. Entrance

VI.3.7 Pompeii. Plan of House, with lower entrance doorway onto Via Consolare.

At the top of the plan, the doorway on the left is from VI.3.26 (to stairs) and from centre left, at VI.3.25.

The plan also shows mosaic floor patterns.

See Lesueur, Jean-Baptiste Ciceron. Voyage en Italie de Jean-Baptiste Ciceron Lesueur (1794-1883), pl. 4.

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VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking east to atrium from entrance corridor.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. Pre-1937-39. Looking east across impluvium in atrium towards tablinum and garden area.

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1734.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2005. Impluvium.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2005. North side of atrium, from entrance corridor.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2005. Looking east from entrance corridor towards rear doorway at VI.3.25.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2005. South side of atrium from entrance corridor.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2005. Looking east from entrance corridor.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2005. Looking east towards remains of masonry altar and niche in the garden area.

According to Boyce, the niche was undecorated, but the altar was coated with red stucco.

Behind the altar was a rectangle of white stucco, which served as a background for the Lararium painting.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14. (p.45, and pl.12,2 and 4)

See Giacobello, F., 2008. Larari Pompeiani: Iconografia e culto dei Lari in ambito domestico. Milano: LED Edizioni. (p.172)

Mazois drew this picture of an altar and a niche but did not identify their location. 

Could it be the ones located on the east wall of VI.3.7 Casa di Musica?

See Mazois, F., 1824. Les Ruines de Pompei : Second Partie. Paris: Firmin Didot, p. 69, Pl. 24.2.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. Remains of masonry altar and niche in the garden area.

Boyce (Plate 12. 4) describes this "as it appeared shortly after discovery in 1810" From Mazois II pl. 24, 2.

According to Boyce, the niche was undecorated, but the altar was coated with red stucco.

Behind the altar was a rectangle of white stucco, which served as a background for the Lararium painting.

Boyce makes the comment that there is a remarkable similarity between this, as reproduced by Mazois, and his painting of the shrine in the Temple of Isis, without the niche, in Vol. IV, pl.11, 5 of the same work.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14. (p.45, and pl.12,2 and 4)

See Giacobello, F., 2008. Larari Pompeiani: Iconografia e culto dei Lari in ambito domestico. Milano: LED Edizioni. (p.172).

VI.3.7 Pompeii. Undated drawing of a painted altar.

See Debret F. (1777-1850), Piranesi F. (1758-1810), LaBrouste H. (1801-1875). Voyage en Italie-De Naples à Paestum, pl. 134.

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VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Niche and altar on east wall of garden area.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. Pre-1937-39. Niche and altar on east wall of garden area.

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 953.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Masonry altar near east wall of garden area.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. December 2007. Niche in east wall of garden area.

According to Jashemski, the garden, excavated in 1809, at the rear of the tablinum, had a portico on the west supported by a brick pillar.

There was a Lararium niche on the east wall, with a shrine painting below, before which stood a masonry altar.

The large room on the right (south) of the garden gave a fine view of the garden.

A marble head of a lion with mouth bored for use as a fountain was found in the house.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.124)

VI.3.7 Pompeii. May 2010. In the centre of the picture is a view, looking east from entrance corridor.

From model in Naples Archaeological Museum.

According to Helbig, paintings found in the big room on the right from the garden (room in south-east corner on model above) were –

Dido & Aeneas, (Helbig 1381) and Dido mourning, (Helbig 1381b)

See Helbig, W., 1868. Wandgemälde der vom Vesuv verschütteten Städte Campaniens. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel.

According to Fiorelli, the paintings found were the prophecy of Cassandra, and the abandonment of Dido.

See Pappalardo, U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p.52)

According to Breton, the house was discovered in January 1806 and was given its name by the number of painted musical instruments found on the atrium walls.

On the right (south) of the atrium were two rooms (according to Fiorelli, “the atrium was bordered by four cubicula” presumably two on either side) then instead of an ala an open room with a bath, having at the rear a baptisterium in which one descended by two steps, as one has seen in the Baths, but here it was in stone, paved with bricks and covered in stucco. (According to Fiorelli “and an ala where others have recognised a bath, but to me it seems footings for a wooden cupboard”)

To the left was a large triclinium. The tablinum was placed between two corridors and entirely open, front to back.

The peristyle was small, having a portico on the side near the tablinum, which was supported by a masonry pillar.

In the corridor on the right of the tablinum was the entry to the kitchen.

This corridor led directly into an oecus, where some paintings were still conserved -

Dido learning of the departure of Aeneas and, nearly vanished, a religious scene.

At the back of the peristyle one saw a small altar discovered 24th March 1810, surmounted by the two serpents and a painting of the genius making a libation. This painting had nearly vanished.

See Breton, Ernest. 1870. Pompeia, Guide de visite a Pompei, 3rd ed. Paris, Guerin.

Photos taken from the rear entrance of the rear rooms, can be seen at VI.3.25 and VI.3.26.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. Painting of mosaic floors. "Mosaïques de la Maison dites des muses a Pompei".

Upper left, part of mosaic in tablinum.

Centre, atrium flooring.

Lower left, 1st room on right       Lower right, 2nd room on right

See Lesueur, Jean-Baptiste Ciceron. Voyage en Italie de Jean-Baptiste Ciceron Lesueur (1794-1883), pl. 5.

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VI.3.7 Pompeii. Plan of flooring -

Upper – Cinquième (et dernier?) pièce à gauche, mosaïque in Marbre noir et blanc.

Middle – Troisième pièce à gauche. Middle right is unclear - ?????? partie ?????? ?????? morceaux de Marbre A, de différents ???????

Lower left, Deuxième pièce à gauche.  Lower right, Premiere pièce à gauche. 

See Lesueur, Jean-Baptiste Ciceron. Voyage en Italie de Jean-Baptiste Ciceron Lesueur (1794-1883), pl. 8.

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VI.3.7 Pompeii. 1838 painting of the south wall of triclinium/oecus.

In the centre panel is the painting of Cassandra prophesising the destruction of Troy.

To the left is seated Hecuba, the wife of King Priam of Troy, with the little Paris clinging to her and the adult Hector to the right.

See Gli ornati delle pareti ed i pavimenti delle stanze dell'antica Pompei incisi in rame: 1838, pl. 66.

VI.3.7 Pompeii. Painting by William Gell of the south wall of triclinium/oecus.

The central painting is of Hecuba, Paris and Hector with Cassandra prophesising the destruction of Troy.

See Gell, W. and Gandy, J., 1852. Pompeiana: Third Edition. London: Bohn, pl. 41. 

VI.3.7 Pompeii. c.1819. Painting by W. Gell of the south wall of the triclinium/oecus.

Below the central painting in the predella were masks.

See Gell W & Gandy, J.P: Pompeii published 1819 [Dessins publiés dans l'ouvrage de Sir William Gell et John P. Gandy, Pompeiana: the topography, edifices and ornaments of Pompei, 1817-1819], pl. 53.

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VI.3.7 Pompeii. Between 1819 and 1832, paintings, lower left and right, from Casa di Musica.

See Gell, W. Pompeii unpublished [Dessins de l'édition de 1832 donnant le résultat des fouilles post 1819 (?)] vol II, pl. 86.

Bibliothèque de l'Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, collections Jacques Doucet, Identifiant numérique Num MS180 (2).

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VI.3.7 Pompeii. 1838 painting by F. Morelli of east wall of triclinium/oecus with painting of Dido weeping, in centre panel.

See Gli ornati delle pareti ed i pavimenti delle stanze dell'antica Pompei incisi in rame: 1838, pl. 64.

According to PPM, the zoccolo of both the anteroom and room was black, with alternating panels of geometric elements and crossed thyrsi, from which dangled musical instruments, and a plate with fruit; in the frieze above the zoccolo there were birds and vases/pots.

In the middle of the wall, the panels in the anteroom (on the left above) were yellow featuring small vignettes of sacred subjects;

the side wall panels in the main triclinium were red with small figures in the centre, surmounted by a frieze with figures (perhaps cupids);

the painting of abandoned Dido was enclosed in a central aedicula.

At the top of the wall, two caryatids are shown above the aedicula in the architectural painting.

See Carratelli, G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici: Vol. IV. Roma: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, page 285

VI.3.7 Pompeii. 1829 painting by F. Morelli of east wall of triclinium/oecus with painting of Dido weeping, in centre panel.

DAIR 74.785. Photo © Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Rom, Arkiv.

See Carratelli, G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici: Vol. IV. Roma: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, page 285

VI.3.7 Pompeii. 1890 painting of part of east wall of triclinium/oecus.

In the centre panel is the painting of Dido weeping at the departure of Aeneas.

At the front is the personification of Africa, recognisable by the elephantine features covering her head.

In the background is the ship in which Aeneas is leaving.

See Niccolini F, 1890. Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei: Volume Terzo. Napoli, L’Arte in Pompei, pl. 33.

According to Fiorelli –

VI.3.7 – “Questa mostra l’atrio tuscanico con impluvio nel mezzo, fiancheggiato da quattro cubicoli e da un’ala, ove altri credette ravvisare un bagno, ma che a me sembra l’imbasamento di un armadio di legno. Stanno difatti nei muri laterali quattro fori per i repagula, che ne abbracciavano tutta quanta l’ampiezza, e sulla parete di fronte la vestigia di due assi verticali anche di legno, ognuno a modo di replum per obliterare le unioni delle tavole, onde n’era composto il fondo: di talche tutto parmi costituisse un armarium promptuarium, spartito in due contignazioni, l’una superiore e sollevata dal pavimento per le vesti, l’altra inferiore e depressa a guisa di arca, costruita in fabbrica per preservare gli abiti dall’umidita del suolo. Tra i materiali impiegati a formarne i muricciuoli, evvi un pezzo di pietra nucerina portante i frammenti di un epigrafe tolta da altro sito - D.D.FAC.C

Il tablino posto tra due fauci tiene a sinistra, un oecus, a destra la cella penaria con cucina e scaletta, alle spalle il viridario. A destra di questo sta il triclinio finestrato, con avanzi di due dipinture, una rappresentante forse il vaticinio di Cassandra, l’altra probabilmente Didone abbandonata, che lamentasi con Anna e le ancelle della partenza di Enea: un cubicolo, e la cella per l’ostiario del posticum, numero 25, trovansi nel altro lato.

Addossato alla parete del giardino vedesi il larario, contenente la nicchia dei Penati, oltre l’immagine del Genio familiare co’serpeti, e di un’ara di fabbrica per le offerte.”

See Fiorelli, G: Descrizione di Pompei, (p.92-3)

See Pappalardo, U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p.52)

(translation - "This shows a Tuscan atrium with an impluvium in the middle, flanked by four cubicula and an ala, where others recognise a bath, but to me it seems to be the footings of a wooden cupboard. In fact, in the side walls are four holes for its “repagula”, which embraced the whole width, and in the front wall, the remains of two vertical planks also of wood, each as a “replum” to obliterate the unions of tables, where it was arranged the rear: to efficacy, therefore all parmi constituted an armarium promptuarium, divided into two parts, the top one was raised from the floor for clothes, the other lower one was in the shape of an arch, made of masonry  in order to preserve the clothes from the humidity of the soil. Among the materials used to make the small wall, was a a piece of nucerine stone carrying the fragments of an inscription taken from another site - D.D.FAC.C

The tablinum was placed between two corridors, on the left was an oecus, to the right a storeroom with kitchen and stairs, at the rear was the garden. To the right of this was the windowed triclinium, with the remains of two paintings,  one showing perhaps the prophecy of Cassandra, the other probably Dido abandoned, lamenting the departure of Aeneas with Anna and the handmaids: on the other side was a cubiculum, and the room for the door-keeper of the rear-entrance at number 25. Leaning against the wall of the garden, we see the lararium, containing the niche of Penates, together with the image of the family Genius with the serpents, and an altar for the offerings.)

According to Pagano –

VI.3.7 Accademia di Musica

L’abitazione era molto grande, e le si era dato questo nome pel rinvenimento di diversi strumenti musicali.

Vi si trova un cortile scoverto, in fondo al quale era il dipinto di due serpenti che si avviticchiano ad un’ara. Al disopra era il larario.

Le larghe camere a sinistra erano tutte decorate di pitture, che rappresentavano istrumenti musicali.

Nelle due camere a destra della porta era il bagno.

A sinistra era un triclinio che communica col peristilio. Nel corridoio a destra era l’entrata della cucina.

L’oecus conserva ancora il dipinto di Didone nel momento che sente la partenza di Enea, e l’altro di una processione religiosa; qui si rinvennero diversi vasi di bronzo e di vetro, ed una statuetta di Bacco.

See Pagano, N. (1868). Guida di Pompei. 2nd ed. (p.58).

(translation:

The house was very large and had been given this name by the discovery of different musical instruments.

There was an uncovered courtyard, at the rear of which was the painting showing two serpents creeping upto an altar. Above it was the lararium.

The large rooms on the left were all decorated with paintings, representing musical instruction.

In the two rooms to the right of the doorway was the bathroom.

On the left was a triclinium that communicated with the peristyle. In the corridor to the right was the kitchen entrance.

The oecus still retained the painting of Dido's and the other of a religious procession; here several bronze and glass vases were found, and a statuette of Bacchus.)