Rare Bacchus and Ariadne fresco that includes Theseus' ship sailing away in the House of the Colored Capitals

 by Mary Harrsch © 2024

This lithograph of the frescoed east wall of Room 24 (pompeiiinpictures floorplan) from the House of the Colored Capitals (VII 4, 31-51 Pompeii) is Henri Roux's 1846 copy of a painting of Bacchus and Ariadne on Naxos. According to Raoul-Rochette, it is unusual in that it depicts both Ariadne awakening and seeing Thesus sailing away as well as the approach of Bacchus and his retinue who is preparing to console her. "...the union of the two scenes, that of Ariadne's despair on waking and that of Bacchus's approach, is a new appearance in this whole class of monuments relating to the meeting of Bacchus and Ariadne at Naxos. We must believe, however, that there existed in antiquity compositions in which this subject was treated in the manner just indicated and which was followed by the author of our painting of Pompeii: for it is the one that Catullus seems to have had in mind in his beautiful description of the tapestry which appeared at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus4; and it is also the one which results from the poetic narration of Nonnus5. In both of these writers, Ariadne, awake on her solitary couch, gives herself over to the full effusion of her grief, while Bacchus, already near her with all his retinue, lends his ear to the passionate accents of this amorous despair, which he is preparing to console.

Frescoed wall with mural of Bacchus and Ariadne from House of the Colored Capitals, Pompeii  by Henri Roux lithography by Raoul Rochette

House of the Colored Capitals Drawing by Serafino Mastracchio of painting of Arianna abandoned on Naxos

"Ariadne, half-raised on her deserted couch, has just noticed the abandonment of Theseus. By a naive movement, of which the paintings hitherto known of the same subject had not yet offered an example, at least for the character of Ariadne, she raises to her eyes a piece of the pip which covers the lower part of her body, to wipe away her tears, while, in the seizure of her silent grief, she fixes her gaze on the Athenian ship which is sailing away under full sail. It is in a grotto, on the seashore, that Ariadne appears here, lying on a bed, which consists of a single mattress, with a cushion of the same material, in all the simplicity of the heroic age. This whole figure is full of grace, and superior, in thought as in execution, to that of paintings long since discovered. The group of Bacchus, surrounded by three of the figures from his thiasis, offers an image no less new or less curious. The god, dressed in a pallium that leaves the entire upper part of his body uncovered, leans with his right hand on the shoulder of Silenus, his old and faithful governor; he seems entirely absorbed in the contemplation of Ariadne, and the state in which the artist did not fear to represent him4 expresses only too sensitively the impression that the appearance of the Cretan heroine produced on him. The two women who appear behind Bacchus must be, one, Psalacantha5, the other, the nymph of Naxos, whose presence at this erotic scene was already explained1; and the curiosity which is depicted in their physiognomy accords well with the role which they fulfil in this hierogamy.

"This painting, recently taken from the ruins of Pompeii, therefore offers a completely new type..." - Raoul-Rochette, 1846.

I looked at 10 pages of links to images of Ariadne on pompeiiinpictures.com and could not find any other images of Ariadne that combined all three elements. ChatGPT pointed out:

"This composition is especially rare and distinctive in the House of the Colored Capitals, where it uniquely captures the myth's transitionary moment, balancing Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus with Bacchus's arrival in the same frame.

"The singularity of this depiction in the House of the Colored Capitals might have symbolized themes of fate, transition, or divine consolation that resonated with its residents. The inclusion of all three elements—the ship sailing off, Ariadne’s sorrow, and Bacchus’s approach—would create a more complex narrative within a single fresco, linking themes of loss and divine intervention in a way that was less common across other Pompeiian houses."

Sadly, the original fresco is now indistinguishable. But, in addition to the lithograph, we at least we have the drawing by Serafino Mastracchio to corroborate its appearance.