Part 2 of the 4th 30 minute segment of the "Pompeii Virtual Walk" video

This segment of the Pompeii Virtual Walk video includes the House of the Faun, House of the Vetti (note - explicit frescoes - viewer discretion advised), the House of the Prince of Naples, the Castellum Aquae, and Samnite fortification wall and tower near the necropolis of the Vesuvio Gate.

I was particularly thrilled to explore the House of the Vetti as it was closed when I was in Pompeii and it is one of those dwellings where the owners went rather "over the top" in adorning almost every inch of wall space with frescoes even though many scholars think the Vettii were freedman and not aristocrats at all. 

I was also excited to finally "tour" the House of the Prince of Naples that I studied for months before writing the Wikipedia article about it. Surgical instruments were scattered in the debris of the house and a skeleton was found in the barrel-vaulted cubiculum to the left of the fauces. I thought these finds suggested the house may have been occupied by a physician at the time of the eruption and one of his patients, possibly injured in the eruption, had expired and was abandoned in the rush to evacuate. Other scholars have proposed that the skeleton may be the remains of someone who broke into the house through holes in the walls and was killed by falling debris.

I was surprised when I "walked" through the House of the Small Fountain how similar it was in some respects to the House of the Prince of Naples.  Both structures were originally two separate Samnite dwellings that had been joined together during the Augustan period. The atrium and forward adjoining rooms  accessed through the portal numbered 23 in the House of the Small Fountain had an almost identical layout to the entrance of the House of the Prince of Naples, a fourth style-decorated cubiculum on the left and an unadorned doorman's chamber with stairs leading to the upper story on the right.  Both structures featured floor pavement of punteggiato regolare, a signinum featuring spaced travertine tesserae used widely in Pompeii beginning about 100 BCE and both had a small rear garden separated from the interior by a row of columns. Instead of an ornate mosaic fountain, the House of the Prince of Naples had a lararium as the garden's focal point. German archaeologists theorized that the residents of the House of the Prince of Naples were superstitious and had the lararium positioned so that the household gods could "see" into every major occupied space in the house. I proposed an opposite viewpoint that the lararium was positioned so it was visible from almost every occupied space as a reminder to visitors (or patients) of the pietas of the resident(s).  If the resident was, in fact, a physician, evidence of his pietas would have been comforting to his patients.

Both houses (as well as the House of Sallust) appeared to have been modified in the Augustan period to refocus the center of attention in the tablinum to the garden rather than the atrium, where clients may have once gathered. (In the case of the House of the Small Fountain and the House of Sallust, the rear wall of the tablinium was removed to expose the garden behind.  In the case of the House of the Prince of Naples, a large opening was cut into the side wall of the tablinum since the garden was behind and off to the side.)  I found this change in architecture that was popularized during Augustus' reign interesting.  Augustus was always focused on his grip on power and it would be to his advantage to discourage the expansion of patron-client relationships and the potentially threatening political power they spawned. What better way to do that than to encourage a cultural focus on the natural world and entertainment rather than cultivation of political relationships? 

As stated before, I have used Topaz Sharpen AI to remove the slight motion blur in screen captures as well as Adobe Camera Raw to adjust clarity, texture, highlights, shadows, and occasionally haze and white balance. I increase dynamic contrast and add a subtle vignette with On1 Photo Raw Effects and remove distracting visitors and replace empty skies with Photoshop and its Sky Replacement feature, changing the blend mode from Screen to Multiply where necessary to avoid extensive editing of the masking layer.

A wonderful collection of images from still cameras of the frescoes in the House of the Vetti can be found here:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ancient_Roman_frescos_in_the_House_of_the_Vettii_(Pompeii)

More images and closeups from still cameras of the frescoes in the House of the Prince of Naples can be found here:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Casa_del_Principe_di_Napoli

You can explore the Pompeii Walk video yourself here - no special hardware is required:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUYJ8LbF1Ys

A reclining Dionysys with satyr from an oecus in the House of the Vettii Pompeii Walk

Front peristyle in Sulla's nephew's House of the Faun Pompeii Walk

Atrium of the House of the Prince of Naples

Atrium of the House of the Vetti facing the peristyle Pompeii Walk

Barrel-vaulted tablinum decorated in the Fourth Style, House of the Prince of Naples Pompeii Walk

Castellum Aquae that supplied Pompeii with water from an aqueduct Pompeii Walk

Closeup of Tablinum with replica of the famous Alexander at the Battle of Issus mosaic House of the Faun w sky rep and adj perspective

Closeup of the god Priapus in the fauces of the House of the Vetti Pompeii Walk

Colonnaded peristyle with lararium in the House of the Prince of Naples Pompeii Walk

Columned architectural details in the Fauces (entrance) of the House of the Faun Pompeii Walk

Dionysus reveals himself to Ariadne in the House of the Vetti Pompeii Walk

Entrance to the House of the Faun (ropes removed) Pompeii Walk

Fauces (entrance) mosaic House of the Faun Pompeii Walk

Fourth style frescoes in the House of the Vetti Pompeii Walk

Fourth style oecus in the House of the Prince of Naples

Fourth style oecus with opus sectile mosaic in the House of the Prince of Naples

Fresco depicting the myth of Pasiphae in the House of the Vetti Pompeii Walk

Another view of front peristyle from opposite direction House of the Faun Pompeii Walk

Ission linked to the volcano wheel in the presence of Juno fresco in the House of the Vettii

Lararia at the House of the Faun Pompeii Walk

Lararium in the peristyle of the House of the Prince of Naples Pompeii Walk

Large marble table (cartibulum) supported by winged griffins in the atrium of the House of the Prince of Naples Pompeii Walk

Lavapesto welcome mosaic of the House of the Faun Pompeii Walk

Lavishly frescoed oecus in the House of the Vettii Pompeii Walk

Lavishly frescoed reception room in the House of the Vetti Pompeii Walk

More modestly decorated reception room in the House of the Vettii Pompeii Walk

Mosaiced impluvium with reproduction of the bronze faun found in the House of the Faun (with visitors and barriers removed) Pompeii Walk

Priapus fresco at the House of the Vetti (1) Pompeii Walk

Rear peristyle House of the Faun Pompeii Walk

Remains of a nail-studded storage chest in the atrium of the House of the Vetti Pompeii Walk

Reproduction of a sculpture of the god Priapus that was once in the peristyle garden of the House of the Vetti Pompeii Walk

Samnite fortification wall and tower near the Necropolis of the Vesuvio Gate Pompeii Walk

Summer triclinium with Bacchus and Venus in the House of the Prince of Naples Pompeii Walk

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Fourth Style Frescos of the Casa del Principe di Napoli, Regio VI, 7,8 in Pompeii.

Fourth Style Frescos of the Casa del Principe di Napoli, Regio VI, 7,8 in Pompeii.

Note:  This is a crosspost from my blog "Antiquities Exhibits."

I am working on the illustrations for my translation of Houses in Pompeii, Volume 1, Casa del Principe di Napoli and have also uploaded the color photographs of its Fourth Style frescos from the book to Wikimedia Commons so they can be used for teaching and research independent of the embedded images in the book. (Under U.S. law these images are in the public domain because the original artist has been deceased for more than 70 years.)

Roman wall paintings in Pompeii are divided into four periods that were originally delineated and described by the German archaeologist August Mau, 1840–1909. These periods are usually referred to as First, Second, Third, and Fourth but are also known as Incrustation, architectural, ornamental, and intricate. Wall paintings were not only used for decoration, as Roman interiors often had no windows, but were used as a guide to function and social orientation for invited guests as well as the public at the morning salutatio. They also reflected the social status of the household.

The First style, also referred to as structural, incrustation or masonry style, was most popular from 200 BCE until 80 BCE and attempted to imitate Hellenistic culture and the Ptolemaic palaces of the Near East. Extremely wealthy Romans inset expensive stone like marble into the walls while the less fortunate had their walls painted to resemble marble. The marble-like look was acquired by the use of stucco moldings, which caused portions of the wall to appear raised. Other simulated elements such as suspended alabaster discs in vertical lines, 'wooden' beams in yellow and 'pillars', 'cornices' in white and the use of vivid color also combined to achieve the effect. Examples of the First Style include the House of the Faun and the House of Sallust in Pompeii.

The Second style, architectural style, or 'illusionism' that dominated the 1st century BCE retained the look of marble but painted walls with faux architectural features and trompe l'oeil (trick of the eye) compositions. Painters wanted to give off the illusion that the viewer was looking through a window at the scenery depicted. They also added objects that are commonly seen in real life such as vases and shelves along with items that appeared to be sticking out of the wall. During the reign of Augustus, the style evolved. False architectural elements opened up wide expanses with which to paint artistic compositions. A structure inspired by stage sets developed, whereby one large central tableau is flanked by two smaller ones. One of the most recognized examples is the Dionysiac mystery frieze in the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii.

The Third style or ornate style, popular around 20–10 BCE departed from illusionistic devices and, instead, obeyed strict rules of symmetry dictated by the central element, dividing the wall into 3 horizontal and 3 to 5 vertical zones. The vertical zones would be divided up by geometric motifs or bases, or slender columns of foliage hung around candelabra. In this particular style, more wall space is left plainly colored, with no design. When designs were present, they tended to be small, plain pictures or scenes such as a candelabra or fluted appendages. Delicate motifs of birds or semi-fantastical animals appeared in the background. Plants and characteristically Egyptian animals were often introduced, part of the Egyptomania in Roman art after Augustus' defeat of Cleopatra and annexation of Egypt in 30 BCE. These paintings were decorated with delicate linear fantasies, predominantly monochromatic, that replaced the three-dimensional worlds of the Second Style. The Villa of Livia in Prima Porta outside of Rome (c. 30–20 BCE) is considered a good example.

The Fourth style revived large-scale narrative painting and panoramic vistas while retaining the architectural details of the Second and First Styles. In the Julio-Claudian phase (c. 20–54 CE), a textile-like quality dominates and tendrils seem to connect all the elements on the wall. The colors warm up once again, and they are used to advantage in the depiction of scenes drawn from mythology, landscapes, and other images. Although the House of the Prince of Naples was once decorated in earlier styles, researchers think the house was totally repainted about 50 CE based on comparisons of its paintings with those of other more precisely dated structures like the House of the Silver Wedding. The House of the Prince of Naples is considered in the book to be a rather modest dwelling of a family of the lower middle class but I am not convinced of that. Some comparisons are made to the House of the Vetti in the same Regio as The House of the Prince of Naples but that would be like comparing Bill Gates mansion with a successful doctor or corporate manager's house today and I certainly would not consider those people "lower middle class." Sometimes I think 20th century archaeologists were so focused on palaces and the trappings of kings or the extremely wealthy that they lost sight of the reality of reasonably successful but not necessarily "elite" members of society.

Image: Triclinium North Wall in the House of the Prince of Naples, Regio VI, 7,8 in Pompeii.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/…/Category:Casa_del_Principe_…

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