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

long boards set side by side and bound with iron bands nailed into the surface (Fig. 5.67). Each
couch measured ca. 1.00-1.15 m. wide and 2.90-2.95 m. long. DR◊(11a), largely ruined by the
collapse of the cryptoporticus vault below, had no evidence for dining finds or installations. DR
(16) has a couch niche at the E end of the N wall (w. 1.30 m.) and an extended indentation on the
S side, formed by a bend in that wall (probably useful for placing couches as well). There are no
dining finds or installations in DR•(18), but the skeletons of seven persons seeking protection
from the eruption were huddled in this room along the W wall. Still-life panels showing food
(fish, bread, a glass bowl of fruit) were painted on the E wall of the atrium. Storage space was
available in a niche just E of the door to DR (16), and there were two, possibly three deep niched
cupboards on the E side of the atrium.
I) Decorative amenities, KI (14): Only traces of white plastering remain on the walls.
Decorative amenities, dining areas: A trace of mosaic flooring was left in the NE corner of DR
(11a), but the ruined state of the room caused by the collapse of the vaults below left no other
discernible decoration. DR (16) was provided with a late 2nd style central mosaic emblema of
opus vermiculatum depicting pygmies in a Nilotic setting, a focus for the dining couches. The
walls, of red-ground 3rd style had an upper zone on white ground with a painted 'balcony'
running around the bottom of this zone, recalling the upper-floor colonnaded cenaculum that lay
above room (8) just to the W. DR•(18) had a central mosaic emblema showing four theatrical
masks, fronted on the S by a band of ivy that probably marked the limit of the dining furniture.
The walls were a 4th style renovation of existing 2nd style decoration.
J) Sanctity: The arcuated niche at the S end of the E wall of KI (14) may have served as a lararium.
More secure evidence for cult comes from the room (17), connected directly to DR (16). Therein
Spinazzola reported and illustrated a small marble altar elaborately sculpted with facing doves
on one side, and flowers and acanthus on the opposite side. On the basis of the doves "in amore",
Spinazzola connected the domestic ritual practiced at this altar with Venus.
Synthesis
All dining areas are located deep into the house around the peristyle. The DO in (9) rests
under a bower in the center of the garden, the open DR◊(11a) is oriented to the N, the open
DR•(18) towards the S and DR (16) is sheltered in the NE corner. The variety of forms and
orientations in these dining areas speaks to the importance of exploiting the seasonal advantages
of this peristyle. The interior dining areas are given fine wall and floor decoration. A fountain
provides scenery for the DO in (9). The atmospheres of dining are combinations of natural and
mad-made scenery. All dining areas are placed at the ends of the peristyle, offering a long vista
through the garden. Despite the specialization of the dining areas, all have remarkably similar
widths; perhaps the same set of dining-couches was moved from room to room as the occasion
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