Gardens of the Roman Empire

House of the Fruit Orchard; Casa del Frutteto; Dei Cubicoli Floreali (I.ix.5)

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Location

Sublocation

Region I

Insula

Insula IX

House

House 5

Garden

House of the Fruit Orchard; Casa del Frutteto; Dei Cubicoli Floreali (I.ix.5)

Keywords

Garden Description

A portico with three columns, red on the bottom, white on the top, enclosed this peristyle garden (a) on the north, east and south sides. The excavating work in 1951 revealed a cistern opening at the edge of the north portico and a gutter on the north, east and south side of the garden. Paintings of orchards adorned two small cubicula (b and c) and gave this house its name.

A. The room (b) off the east side of the atrium had walls divided horizontally into four zones. At the base there are hart's-tongue ferns (Phyllitis scolopendrium L.) Newman and acanthus (Acanthus mollis L.) painted on a black dado. The next band is painted to represent a fence of woven reeds and then a luxuriant garden of trees and flowers beyond with an azure sky above. The other three walls are divided into three panels each by vertical figures that Maiuri describes as trellis supports rather than columns. The door on the west wall leaves room for only a narrow panel on either side. The center of each panel on the north, east, and south walls features a pinax or Egyptian statue. Excluded is the west panel on the south wall, for much of the space is taken up by a window. Each of these paintings features a profusion of birds. The upper zone is illustrated with urns, sculptured pinakes with Egyptian motifs and garlands from which are suspended masks and round oscilla as well as various birds, all against a blue background. The birds in this zone include the egret (Egretta sp.), magpie (Pica pica L.), blackbird (Turdus merula L.), white pigeon/dove (Streptopelia sp.), hooded crow (Corvus corone cornix L.), and house sparrow (Passer domesticus italiae Vieillot). (Jashemski, Gardens, vol.1, figs. 117 on p. 74, 171, 173 on pp. 106-107). Identification of the subjects painted is made possible by the extreme attention to detail that the artist utilized. Starting on the east wall, viewed first upon entering, the left panel shows a statue of a standing pharaoh facing a similar statue in the right panel. Behind the pharaoh is a fabulous lemon tree loaded with fruit (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1, fig 126 on p. 78). The left of the panel has fragments of what was a myrtle with white blossoms, and on the right is an oleander with pink flowers. At the base of the statue are carefully rendered corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas L.) (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1, fig. 118 on p. 75). An oleander bush with deep pink blossoms and a perching bird stands behind a pinax in the center panel. The oleander is flanked by what appear to be laurel bushes with whitish flower buds with an additional viburnum (Viburnum tinus L.) to the far left and a myrtle on the far right. A white pigeon perched on the fence to the far left looks to the right. The base of the pinax has a mound of ivy (hedera helix subsp. Poetarum Nyman) covered with bright yellow berries flanked by roses on the right and a plant with four petaled flowers on the left. The standing pharaoh in the right panel was badly damaged but the image of a cherry tree with bright red fruit that stands behind it remains (Jashemski, Gardens, vol.1, figs. 117 and 121 on pp. 74 and 75). The damaged images of the plants at the sides of the pharaoh appear to be similar to the other panel with a myrtle on the right and an oleander to the left. It is likely the flowers at the base of the statue were corn poppies. The left panel on the south wall is decorated with a swallow perching in a viburnum bush in full bloom behind a seated pharaoh facing west (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1, figs. 117 and 122 on p. 74 and 76). A tall, slender laurel with whitish blossoms stands in the left background and an oleander with deep pink blossoms is on the right. Shorter oleanders with pink blossoms grow beside the statue on the left and to the right a short viburnum and myrtle are in bloom. The flowers painted at the base of the statue on the left are poppies, but there is too much damage to confidently identify the remaining yellow to orange flowers along the front. The center panel features a sculptured, painted pinax, an oleander with pink blooms behind it and what is probably a female turtledove (Streptopelia turtur L.) perched in the branches. A dark bird, possibly a blackbird, is flying to the top to the bush (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1, fig. 408 on p. 274). Another tall laurel in bloom is painted on the left and a strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) displays showy red-ribbed fruit (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1, fig. 120 on p. 75). A young palm is growing in front of the pinax flanked by a myrtle with white blossoms to the on the right and a blossoming oleander to the left. The low flowers on the bottom of the left appear to be roses, but those on the right were completely lost. The paintings around the window in the west panel include a tall oleander on the left of the window and above, identified by the leaves, are a myrtle on the left and a viburnum on the right. Perching above the window is a white dove/pigeon. Left of the window to the bottom are Madonna lilies (Lilium candidum L.), found only two other times in the garden paintings of Pompeii that are presently known. On the left of the door in the west wall there is a bush, no blooms, above the fence and an oleander in bloom on the right. The garlands painted on the rest of the walls are missing but a white dove/pigeon on the wing is shown against a clear blue sky on either side of the door. Extensive damage occurred on the north wall. The west panel has a seated pharaoh facing the similar figure on the right panel with a tall viburnum bush in bloom behind. The bushes on either side are so badly damaged that identification is uncertain, perhaps laurels. A short oleander can be identified to the left of the statue while only the outline of four petals flowers survived on the base of this side. The center panel is slightly better preserved; the sculptured, painted pinax has a tall flowering oleander in back flanked by a tall laurel on the left and a tall viburnum on the right. The foreground figures are a myrtle in bloom on the left, a short oleander on the right, and a damaged unidentified plant in the center. The flowering plants in the foreground are unidentifiable. A statue of a seated Egyptian is shown on the right panel facing his counterpart on the left. Behind the statue are, from left to right, an oleander, a strawberry tree and a laurel. A shrub and a palm as tall as the statue are located to its left and on the right is a flowering oleander. Damage has completely erased the flowers that were presumably painted at the bottom of this panel.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of Pompeii with Region I highlighted, plan in Jashemski, Gardens, p.21

Fig. 2: Plan of Region I, insula ix, plan in Jashemski, *Gardens*, plan 12, p. 44

Dates

unspecified

Excavation Date

1951

Bibliography

Jashemski, Gardens, 1:74-77 and figs. 117, 118, 120, 122 on p. 74-76, fig. 126 on p. 78, figs. 171-173 on pp. 106-107, and fig. 408 on p. 274. (worldcat)
Idem, Gardens, vol.II, pp. 44, 317-320. (worldcat)
Bastet, p. 75.
De Vos, Guida, p. 124.
Idem, Rom.Paint., pp. 127-129. (worldcat)
Le Corsu, "Un oratoire pompéien consacré à Dionysos-Osiris," RevueArch, fasc. 2 (1967): 239, 242-249 (little mention of plant material).
Maiuri, BdA, (1952), pp. 7-9.
Michel, pp. 386-390.
Peters, "Van Prima Porta," pp. 6-8.
PPP, 1:95-96.
Schefold, WändP, p.38.
Sichtermann, Antike Welt (1974), no. 3, pp. 41-45.

Places

House of the Fruit Orchard; Casa del Frutteto; Dei Cubicoli Floreali (I.ix.5) B

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Location

Sublocation

Region I

Insula

Insula IX

House

House 5

Garden

House of the Fruit Orchard; Casa del Frutteto; Dei Cubicoli Floreali (I.ix.5) B

Keywords

Garden Description

B. The room to the east of the peristyle was painted in three horizontal zones. The east wall was the only section that survived in its entirety. The bottom zone had a simple decoration on a black background; the top zone was painted black. The middle zone featured a lattice fence with garden representations behind it. Slender trellis-like supports, similar to those in the other room, divided the each wall into three panels on the north, east and south sides. Part of the south wall was occupied by a window. Each panel included the representation of a tree. The east wall is viewed immediately upon entering the room and here the fence forms an asped bay in the center where an elaborate footed marble basin is painted. Resting in the basin is a golden jewel bedecked urceus as was used in the worship of Isis. Standing on a pedestal behind the fence on either side of this basin is a fluted egg-shaped marble fountain with a pink blossomed rose bush (Rosa sp.) on one side and a flowering bush with four petaled lavender flowers on the other (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1, figs. 123-125 on p. 77). A fig tree with ripe fruit is featured on the center panel with a large snake coiling up the trunk. Two birds fly towards the top of the tree while one is perched on the right side. To either side of the fig tree stands an oleander bush without blossoms, the flowers may have upstaged the fig tree if present (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1, figs. 123, 385 on pp. 77 and 262). The bush on the left hand side has a small bird with a reddish tail perched on its branches, possibly a nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos C.L.Brehm). The two narrow side panels each show a tall strawberry tree with ripe fruit. Although Maiuri misidentified these as a sorb, the fruit is well preserved enough to positively identify these as strawberry trees. The south wall sustained considerable damage, lacking the bottom zone and part of the middle zone. A delicate two-handled, footed, bowl shaped fountain is painted in the center of the space to the east of the window. It sits on a pedestal behind the fence with a bush with stylized white buds on either side. These may represent myrtles and beyond these a rose bush with pink blooms occupies either end of the panel. A pear tree is in the upper zone in the east panel with four birds perched on it. A jay (Garrulus glandarius L.) sits on the upper right with a female oriole (Oriolus oriolus L.) perched below. The other two and a bird flying towards the tree from the right cannot be identified (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1, fig. 388 on p. 263). In the middle panel above the window there is a lemon tree with beautiful fruit and a female oriole (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1, fig. 420 on p. 281). Three other unidentified birds sit on branches or fly to the top of the tree. The lower part of this painting is lost. The west panel was badly damaged but the tree image that remains has ripe fruit which Jashemski identifies as pomegranate as opposed to Maiuri's identification as a peach. She also differs with Maiuri's identification of the flowering bush above the door which he said was a honeysuckle, but Jashemski has identified as a flowering viburnum. A bird is flying towards this bush and in the narrow panel on either side of this are oleanders in bloom, the north panel almost all gone. The paintings on the north wall are identical to the ones on the south with the exception being the two rose bushes on the east end are replaced by a bush with four petaled lavender flowers which mirrors the same figure on the adjacent corner of the east wall. In the upper zone of the west panel a female oriole perches in a cherry tree (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1 fig. 418 on p. 280). Two flying birds cannot be positively identified but the one on the left may be an oriole and the other has the silhouette that suggests a martin. The right side of the painting was destroyed. A yellow plum tree (Prunus domestica L.) with what is perhaps another oriole dominates the center panel and a large bird flies towards a bush to the lower right. This panel sustained considerable damage. The panel next to it on the right has a blue plum tree accompanied by four birds including a turtledove on the upper right, and probably a female oriole on the left. The damage to the top of this panel took out most of another bird. A low branch holds what is either a greenfinch (Carduelis chloris L.) or a redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus L.), the colors faded enough to make identification difficult (Jashemski, Gardens, vol. 1 fig. 389 on p. 263). Low bushes without blooms and a profusion of birds fill the spaces under these trees. The fragments of the ceiling show that it was painted to represent a grape arbor with clusters of fruit, birds and flying amorini, and Dionysiac symbols such as masks, musical instruments, drinking horns, and oscilla.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of Pompeii with Region I highlighted, plan in Jashemski, Gardens, p.21

Fig. 2: Plan of Region I, insula ix, plan in Jashemski, *Gardens*, plan 12, p. 44

Dates

unspecified

Excavation Date

1951

Bibliography

Bastet, pp. 75-76.
De Vos, Guida, p. 124.
Jashemski, Gardens, 1:74-77 and figs. 117, 118, 120, 122 on p. 74-76, fig. 126 on p. 78, figs. 171-173 on pp. 106-107, and fig. 408 on p. 274; 1:77-79 and figs. 123-125 on p. 77, figs. 385, 388, 389 on pp. 262-263 and figs. 418 and 420 on pp. 280-281. (worldcat)
Idem, Gardens, vol.II, pp. 44, 320-322. (worldcat)
Le Corsu, "Un oratoire pompéien consacré à Dionysos-Osiris," RevueArch, fasc. 2 (1967): 239, 242-249 (little mention of plant material).
Maiuri, Rom., Paint., pp. 124, 129.
Maiuri, BdA, (1952), pp. 7-9.
Idem, Rom.Paint., pp. 127-129.
Michel, pp. 386-390.
Peters, "Van Prima Porta," pp. 6-8.
PPP, 1:95-96, 1:101-102.
Schefold, WändP, p.38.
Sichtermann, Antike Welt (1974), no. 3, pp. 41-48.