KITCHENS AND DINING ROOMS AT POMPEII ... - Get a Free Blog

and exedrae where there is minimal smoke, soot cannot do any harm; there
carving may be carried out. 227
The craftsmen, again, in the stucco-work, must keep the designs in accordance
with 'decor', that they may have a character fitted to their place and adjusted to
the differences of style. In winter dining rooms, painting of detail is not useful in
the composition, nor fine mouldings in the cornice under the vault, because they
are damaged by the smoke from the fire and the frequent soot from the lamps.
In these rooms, immediately above the dado, panels of black are to be worked up
and finished with strips of yellow ochre or vermilion intervening. The arched
ceilings have a plain finish. 228
Vitruvius clearly believed that seasonal ramifications must be considered with regard to the
quality and nature of wall and ceiling decoration. His advice for the construction of pavements
in winter-dining rooms reveals similar concerns:
As to the pavements, it will not be unsatisfactory if we observe the arrangement
of Greek winter apartments. A useful construction is not at all expensive. For
inside the leveled surface of the triclinium, a depth of about two feet is dug. The
ground is well-rammed and a pavement of rubble or pounded brick is laid with a
fall towards the gutter and its outlets. Then charcoal is collected and crushed by
treading, and a mixture six inches thick of ashes, sand and lime is laid. The top
surface is then rubbed with stone to rule and level, and has the appearance of a
black pavement. At banquets, therefore, the wine which is thrown from the cups
or spit out after tasting dries as it falls. And although the servants who are
employed there are barefooted, their feet are not stained by the wine-less on this
kind of pavement. 229
In order to minimize the need for portable heat, some authors argue for architectural
designs that moderate the existing environmental conditions and maximize the naturally
available light and heat. Columella gives directions, but no explicit reasons, for arranging the
227 Vitr. 7.3.4: Conclavibus aute, ubi ignis aut plura lumina sunt ponenda, pura fieri debent, ut ea facilius
extergeantur; in aestivis et exhedris, ubi minime fumus est nec fuligo potest nocere, ibi calatae sunt faciendae. (Loeb
text, author's translation); see also Salza Prina Ricotti 1987, 127.
228 Vitr. 7.4.4: Ipsi autem politionibus eorum ornatus proprios debent habere ad decoris rationes, uti et ex locis aptas
et generum discriminibus non alienas habeant dignitates. tricliniis hibernis non est utilis compositione nec
megalographia nec camerarum coronario opere subtilis ornatus, quod ea et ab ignis fumo et ab luminum crebris
fuligini- bus corrumpuntur. in his vero supra podia abaci ex atramento sunt subigendi et poliendi cuneis silaceis seu
miniaceis interpositis; explicatae camerae pure politae (Loeb text and translation).
229 Vitr. 7.4.4-5: etiam pavimentorum non erit displicens, si qui animadvertere voluerit Graecorum hibernaculorum
usum, minime sumptuosus et utilis apparatus. Foditur enim infra libramentum triclinii altitudo circiter pedum
binûm, et solo festucato inducitur aut rudus aut testaceum pavimentum ita fastigatum, ut in canali habeat nares.
Deinde congestis et spisse calcatis carbonibus inducitur e sabulone et calce et favilla mixta materies crassitudine
semipedali. Ad regulam et libellam summo libramento cote despumato redditur species nigri pavimenti. Ita conviviis
eorum et, quod poculis et pytismatis effundetur, simul cadit siccescitque, quique versantur ibi ministrantes, etsi nudis
pedibus fuerint, non recipiunt fraces ab eius modi genere pavimenti (Loeb text and translation).
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