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

independent property. DR◊(4) has bipartite decoration resulting from its original division into
two distinct spaces (PPM I, 632-635, #20-26). The N space is marked by plain flooring, and it
extends as far as the S end of the E wall. The ceiling of the N space is also a good 0.80 m. lower
than the space to the S. This structural and decorative division was probably sufficient to mark
its limits. The pavement of the S space consists of a cocciopesto pavement with white tesserae
inset in regular rows, dating to the second century B.C. In the final phase, the walls were
completely repainted in white ground 4th style, but a different manner of the same style
prevailed in the N part of the room, reinforcing the original bipartition of the space.
The long and narrow DR (10) had a cocciopesto pavement with random inset pieces of white
limestone, belonging to the second century B.C. The wall decoration was of the 2nd style, of
nearly solid black ground, broken up into simple panels by red and yellow borders. The bright
decoration of DR (16) has survived well (Fig. 5.87). The cocciopesto pavement has black and
white inset tesserae marked out regularly in cross patterns on the three sides of the room where
the dining couches would have been located. A band with diamond decoration defines the
threshold of the wide but shallow room, and the pavement centers on an emblema with the
crossed motifs of thyrsi and lotus and papyrus flowers done in red, yellow, green and white
tesserae. The walls are white ground in the 4th style, with architectural frames in red. Vignettes
(particularly, a still life of a plate of fish on the E wall) mark the centers of each wall.
The floor of DH (17) is clearly marked out for the disposition of three dining couches (PPM I, 682-
685, #110-113). Plain flooring occupies the horseshoe-shaped position of the couches, and
corresponds to the position of the couch niches at the base of the walls. Separated from the plain
flooring by a border of white marble, the T-shaped area in front of the couches was paved in opus
sectile with a diamond and square pattern. The central emblema was a square (0.90 m. a side)
consisting of an intricate and brilliant pattern of opus sectile and colored glass. The value of this
emblema is made evident by a thick lead sheet found laid over the top to protect it from wear
during periods when the room was not being used for banquets. The walls are decorated in an
early 4th style on a white ground, likely predating the A.D. 62 earthquake, in concert with the
decoration of the two aediculae at the W end of (19) and at the S end of the garden, and prior to
the 4th style decoration in the N end of the house (Fig. 5.88). The ceiling of the room is also
elaborated with a shallow vault in its center that held coffers featuring painted stucco in relief.
Appropriate to the outdoor setting of the DO in (23) are the paintings of the S garden wall and
the faces of the masonry dining couches themselves, done in the 4th style (PPM I, 714-727, #166-
187, Maiuri 1938). The S garden wall provided a megalographic backdrop for the dining couches,
featuring a deer, bird, a bear pursuing a bull, and a crouching feline. The masonry couches had
standard stuccoed masonry surfaces that sloped outward from the center, and an inset ledge
revetted in marble, for the placement of cups and other utensils. The faces of the couches
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