Time for Some Pretty Stuff!!

[endlessrarities]

And now for something completely different....

I thought I'd feature some of the more photogenic aspects of Herculaneum.  Which is, by all accounts, a bit more upmarket than Pompeii.  The Roman equivalent of Kelvinside or Newton Mearns, perhaps...  Or perhaps Padstow would be a better comparison, as it appears to have been a coastal holiday resort.

Like Pompeii, the more desirable properties feature a courtyard, often featuring a fountain, with heavily ornamented walls and floors in the surrounding rooms and spaces.  Highly decorated alcoves are a common feature - working from first principles, This feature is called a sacellum: I assumed at first that they were shrines, and I'm pleased to report that further research has supported this theory:-

This particular sacellum is part of the 'Skeleton House', so called because a charred skeleton was recovered from one of the upper storeys.

I know I'm not supposed to be guilty of favouritism, but I did find the artworks in Herculaneum more tasteful than those in Pompeii.  Why, even the scenes of gruesome animal violence were unfailingly elegant:-

Another artwork from the same house is featured below.  This mosaic features Neptune and Amphitrite, and the house, perhaps not surprisingly, is now called the 'Neptune and Amphitrite House':-

As a matter of interest, the shop featured yesterday, which still retained its in situ fixtures and fittings (and a surfeit of amphorae) was attached to this particular house. 

One last glimpse inside another courtyard.  Now, is this a seating area, or yet another sacellum?  The 'seat' could arguably be a plinth for a statue.
 

 

Sadly, my little guidebook (New Guide to Herculaneum and Oplontis - Anon, Edizioni Kina Italia) does not feature a photograph of this particular structure, so I haven't a clue which house it came from!

Comments

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Lovely, as always. Thanks for sharing.

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

The photos bring back memories. I've deffo got photos of the hunting scene and of Neptune and Amphitrite.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Neptune and Amphitrite was right where my camera battery starting dying. Too many shots wasted trying to catch Italian Wall Lizards. Regarding the last photo, I'm pretty sure I saw a larger alcove the same shape in one of the houses at the edge of the site (the ones visible as you walk back to the railway station) and that had a statue in it.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Ah, those wall lizards...

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

I now have the ballad 'The Gallant Frigate Amphitrite' running around my head :o)

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

You strange person, you!!

[red-trillium.livejournal.com]

Those are beautiful and I can see why you are more inclined towards Herculaneum if you saw a lot of that kind of work. It seems more colourful than Pompeii, or is that just my imagination/lack of memory?

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I think that most of the picturesque parts of Pompeii were closed off to the general public. There were plenty of mosaic-covered sacellum (plural - is that sacella, or what???), but they could only be glimpsed at a tantalising distance.