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

Synthesis
The design of the dining arrangements in this house seems predicated on seasonal
considerations. The large DH•(b) was protected from the elements by a small entrance and was
appropriate to non-summer dining. The high ceiling expanded its interior space, and views were
extended beyond the walls through their 3rd style decoration, which featured sacro-idyllic
landscapes in large panels. The summer dining area DI•(e) had primary aspect onto the actual
landscape of garden (h), itself expanded by the garden paintings on its W and S walls. As Clarke
notes: "the view out was of primary importance". 76 The position, form and decoration of both
these rooms exemplify the "view out" in their own particular way, based on their adaptation to
seasonal climatic conditions.
KI (l) was conveniently placed between dining areas to serve them both; the room was
well-equipped with extensive heating, working and storage facilities, as well as an adequate
water source. The kitchen was invisible to DH•(b) and DI•(e), but the smell of cooking food (and
doubtless a considerable din) were discernible in the latter, placed adjacent to the kitchen.
Serving a dinner party necessitated considerable traffic along corridor (o). This attractive and
practical arrangement was interrupted by the earthquake, and at the time of the eruption, neither
dining area was operational; both were filled with building material. The lack of repair to the
damaged decoration of these dining rooms might argue for the abandonment of dining in these
rooms or the postponement of their use until other parts of the house had been renovated. On
the other hand, at least in DH•(b), the storage of building material in that winter dining area may
have been temporary, until repairs to the roof of the atrium were complete, and cooler days
appropriate to the use of the room had arrived once more. The attachment of this house in its last
phase to the Casa dell'Efebo, with its own slate of fine dining areas, further complicates the
problem. Without knowing the domestic structure of the occupants of this house and their
relationship to the owners and household of the Casa dell'Efebo, it is not possible to securely
interpret its functionality, except to say that it was limited during its renovation.
76 Clarke 1991, 16.
279