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

paintings of food, are frequently found in saloons [i.e. dining-halls] and dining
rooms." 247
In terms of theme, he continues: "Even where subject-matter was less specifically related to room
function, it is a general rule that reception rooms were decorated with grand and heroic themes,
bedrooms with more intimate ones." 248 Grand themes also went hand-in-hand with "elaborate
architectural decoration" in the more public reception rooms that included dining rooms and
dining-halls. 249 On the point of composition, Clarke speaks of the difference between 'dynamic'
areas through which one passed, and 'static' areas such as dining areas, in which one rested:
"Dynamic, or walking, spaces announced the goal of the walk from the point of
entrance, employing arranged views of the terminus to prompt the visitor as he
or she progressed through the spaces. Decoration in these spaces, as we will see,
was tailored to quick recognition of simple patterns rather than long, tarrying
analysis. In static, or resting, spaces, the view out was of primary importance.
Decoration within this kind of space tended to be complex, requiring the viewer's
prolonged attention." 250
Because guests would occupy dining rooms for hours, dining rooms were the consummate 'static'
spaces (even as they were 'dynamic' vortices of serving, eating, and entertainment). The
combination of large-scale, detailed decorative schemes and spacious dimensions in dining
rooms encouraged the occupants of the room to focus on the interior space, where the artistic
taste and financial wherewithal of the host was on display.
The most secure evidence for a dining room is the presence of actual dining couches.
Because of their perishable frames of wood, and covers and cushions of cloth, actual couches
rarely survive even at Pompeii and Herculaneum. The wooden frames of two couches each are
preserved in dining room (19) of the Casa dell'Alcova (IV.4) and the upper floor rooms (2, 5) of
the Casa a Graticcio (III.13) in Herculaneum (Figs. 2.37-2.39). These couches vary in size; in the
Casa dell'Alcova, the frames measure ca. 2.60 x 1.15 m. and 2.20 x 1.15 m respectively. The
narrower frames in room (2) of the back upstairs apartment in the Casa a Graticcio measure ca.
2.40 x 0.55 m., and in room (5) of the front upstairs apartment, the larger 'adult' couch measures
247Ling 1991, 135.
248Ling 1991, 136.
249Allison 1992a, 247, in reference to her case study of the Casa della Caccia Antica at Pompeii (VII.4.48).
Both Ling and Allison follow Barbet 1985, 72, who says about second style decoration: "Le décor des salles
de réception comprend très souvent des thèmes gradioses, des architectures de grande ampleur, des
mégalographies mises en valeur par les proportions souvent imposantes des salles. Un jeu de portes rélles
ou feintes, générateur de symétries, contrebalance la tendence à centrer l'attention sur le mur de fond." This
distinct style in dining rooms does not last through the third style (Barbet 1985, 132).
250Clarke 1991, 16.
108