I.7.2-3 House of M. Fabius Amandio; House of P. Cornelius Cornthus

Province

Location

Location Description

An ancient city of Campania destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, Pompeii was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Sublocation

Region I

Insula

Insula VII

Keywords

Garden Description

A very small garden was located in the light well at the rear of the atrium. The small raised garden (about 0.50 m. high) had a tiny semicircular pool fed by roof water. Three marble bases (0.16 x 0.21 m.) were most likely place at the edge of the pool. A garden painting adorned the wall behind pool. This was the painting of a garden fence and a slender, footed fountain before it. The water jets have attracted a peacock and two small birds that are perched on the rim. The elaborate plant motif on the foot of the fountain suggested to Maiuri that the artist was depicting a bronze fountain rather than a marble one. A dense thicket painted behind the fence has small fruit, the blossom ends are clearly visible, with white myrtle blossoms mixed with the foliage. Jashemski differs with Maiuri’s description of this as an oleander thicket with blossoms and berries; as she points out that oleander has elongated pods as opposed to round berries. The east wall was yellow with plants painted on it, but only the north panel survived, and nothing remains of the work on the west and north walls.

Dates

Excavated 1911 and 1923.

Bibliography

Della Corte, M. Case ed abitanti di Pompei, p. 313.
Grimal, P. Les jardins Romaines, p. 446, no. 4.
Jashemski, W.F. 1979. Garden of Pompeii: Herculaneum and the villas destroyed by Vesuvius, p. 60 and fig. 97 on p. 60. (worldcat)
Jashemski, W.F. 1993. Gardens of Pompeii: Herculaneum and the villas destroyed by Vesuvius. Volume 2, Appendices, p. 37. (worldcat)
Maiuri, A. 1927. NSc, pp. 8, 11 and fig. 1 (plan) on p. 4.
Maiuri, A. 1939. Pompeii, pp. 2, 112. (worldcat)
Maiuri, A. 1937. Monumenti della pittura antica scoperti in italia, sec. 3. (worldcat)
PPP, p. 55.
Schefold, K. and Dräyer, W. 1956. Pompeji, p. 30.
Spinazzola, V. 1910-1923. Pompei alla luce degli Scavi Nuovi di Via dell'Abbondanza, see large plan at back of book. (worldcat)
Warscher, T. 1942. Flora Pompeiana, p. 24.

Publication date

21 Apr 2021