Erotic and mythological frescoes, the House of Phaedra discovered in Pompeii

A small house, small in size but with extremely refined decorations among erotic and mythological frescoes, was discovered in Pompeii during the investigations underway in the construction site of the Insula dei Casti Amanti, in the central district of the ancient city, along Via dell’Abbondanza . Thanks to the discovery of a well-preserved fresco, representing the myth of Hippolytus and Phaedra, it was provisionally named Phaedra’s House. On the walls there is also a representation of an intercourse between a satyr and a nymph and a small picture with the divine couple Venus and Adonis.

It is a house with limited space, without the traditional atrium; a peculiarity considering that, despite the small size of the residence, it would not have been impossible to insert a small atrium with the classic basin (impluvium) for collecting rainwater, typical in the architecture of rich Pompeian residences, and which instead in this case it is absent. A choice probably to be related to the changes that Roman society, and Pompeian society in particular, were going through during the 1st century AD and which this discovery allows us to study and investigate further. The house is striking for the high level of wall decorations, which has nothing to envy of the larger and richer House of Painters at Work, which it borders.

The two rooms currently under investigation are located in the rear part of the house. In the first, in addition to the mythological picture with Hippolytus and Phaedra, the walls splendidly decorated in the 4th style show other scenes taken from the repertoire of classical myths: a representation of a symplegma (intercourse) between satyr and nymph, a picture with a divine couple, perhaps Venus and Adonis, as well as a scene, unfortunately damaged by the Bourbon explorations, in which one can probably recognize a Judgment of Paris. A window, next to the small picture with Ippolito and Freda, opens onto a small courtyard, where building work was underway at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius, characterized at the entrance by the presence of a small lararium (domestic altar) with a rich painted decoration with plant and animal motifs on a white background.

The courtyard has a covered area that precedes a large pool with walls painted red. A canal ran around it, which allowed rainwater to be conveyed towards the mouth of a well connected to a cistern below.

In the decoration of the lararium stands out in the upper part a bird of prey in flight, probably an eagle, holding a palm branch in its claws, and in the lower part the main scene composed of two facing snakes, which frame an altar with a circular and grooved shaft on which the offers are placed. They can be recognized from the left: the pine cone, a raised element that supports an egg, what appear to be a fig and a date. Filling the background of the scene are two shrubs with lanceolate leaves and yellow and red berries on which three sparrows move.

Ritual objects were found inside the niche, left with the last offering before the eruption of 79 AD that destroyed Pompeii: an achromatic ceramic incense burner with ancient gaps and a lamp, both with evident traces of burning. Laboratory analyzes made it possible to identify the remains of twigs of odorous essences, while two parts of a dried fig were recovered behind the two objects. Furthermore, two strips of colored marble and a third element, presumably in red marble, with a depiction of a face attributable to the Dionysian sphere, probably a Silenus, were found on the altar surface. Finally, in the front part of the altar a quadrangular and molded marble base was identified, with a central housing and on the left an iron knife whose handle ends in an eye hook for suspension.

The construction site underway at the Insula dei chaste lovers is the subject of a complex project – divided into two different lots – which involved various phases, some of which have already been completed and which have made it possible for the public to enjoy the complex, through a system of raised walkways. The different phases involved: the verification, design and construction of the new roof; archaeological excavations; the reprofiling of the excavation faces; the safety of the high walls; the restoration of surfaces and archaeological elements.

Currently, the Park’s archaeologists are working in the north-eastern sector of the block, within a series of rooms with access from the eastern alley. The contribution of the ongoing investigations is making it possible to define the planimetric layout of the Insula more and more precisely, so much so as to allow this new housing unit to be identified.

“It is an example of public archeology or, as I prefer to call it, circular archaeology: conservation, research, management, accessibility and use form a virtuous circuit – declares the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel -. Excavating and restoring under the eyes of the visitors, but also publishing data online on our e-journal and on the open.pompeiisites.org platform means giving back to the company that finances our activities through tickets, taxes and sponsorships the full transparency of what we do, not for the sake of small circle of scholars, but for everyone. Archeology must be for everyone because only in this way will we create understanding towards the archaeologists who work throughout Italy on construction sites as part of the so-called preventive archaeology. If the construction of the metro or a road delays a cause of archaeological discoveries, visiting Pompeii and observing the work of archaeologists and restorers can help us understand why it is worth documenting and safeguarding the traces of the generations who lived before us”.

A few weeks ago Alberto Angela also returned to the Insula dei Casti Amanti to produce a report on these new environments. Presented as a preview at the Rome Film Festival, the service will be broadcast in its entirety on Raiuno on Saturday 26 October, at approximately 3.05pm, in the program “Passaggio a Nord Ovest”.