Description:
Model for the House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii
Label Text:
Buried by the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the House of the Tragic Poet was frozen in time. When this archetypal Roman domus (house) was rediscovered in 1824, the high-quality fresco and mosaic decoration had been exceptionally well preserved. The Mount Holyoke fresco fragments, also from Pompeii, are in the same style as wall-paintings found at the House of the Tragic Poet. The frescoes on view in this gallery were reproduced in miniature and inserted into a small room on the right side of this model. Recontextualized in this setting, the fragments can be seen and understood as part of the overall decoration of a Roman house.
Other notable features of the House of the Tragic Poet include the floor mosaic in the fauces (entrance passage) that depicts a leashed canine and the temple-like lararium (household shrine) located in the rear peristylium (open air courtyard with columns surrounding a garden). The Latin inscription accompanying the mosaic reads “CAVE CANEM”, which translates to “beware the dog.” Look through the front door of this model and notice the overt sightline to the lararium—a symbol to passersby of the homeowner’s religious devotion. (Sept. 2016)
Long considered a paradigm of the Roman domus, the House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii was well documented by architects, artists, and
photographers interested in preserving the evidence of this Roman city since its discovery in 1824. Based upon these records and studies, this particular house seemed an appropriate example of the kind of dwelling that would have held these frescoes. With this in mind, the Mount Holyoke panels were reproduced in miniature within a fully articulated wall scheme and inserted hypothetically into the small room with the geometric floor mosaic on the right side of the house. By recontextualizing these panels in an authentic setting, they may be seen and understood by the museum visitor as part of an overall decorative program of a room in a Roman house.
Tags:
ancient; archaeology Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+2015.L6 |
