House of the Faun

Coordinates: 40°45′4.5″N 14°29′4.5″E / 40.751250°N 14.484583°E / 40.751250; 14.484583
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
House of the Faun
Casa del Fauno
Front view of the house
Map
General information
LocationPompeii, Roman Empire
CountryItaly
Construction started180 BC
Copy of the Dancing Faun

The House of the Faun (

Hellenistic palace that was framed by peristyle in Pompeii, Italy. The historical significance in this impressive estate is found in the many great pieces of art that were well preserved from the ash of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. It is one of the most luxurious aristocratic houses from the Roman Republic, and reflects this period better than most archaeological evidence found even in Rome itself.[2]

Houses of the higher class

The House of the Faun, along with the

tetrastyle atrium, that after the AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, the House of the Faun was rebuilt and repaired, as revealed by excavation beneath the floor of the house;[3]
yet, the building was only used again until AD 79, when it was ultimately rendered unusable by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Although the eruption was devastating, the layers of ash covering the city preserved artworks, like the mosaics, which would have otherwise been likely destroyed or severely decayed due to the passage of time.

Faun statue

The bronze statue of a dancing

Inscriptions and their familial associations

Archaeologists discovered an inscription bearing the

Cassius was also found, indicating that someone of the Cassii family married into the gens Satria and lived in the House of the Faun.[7]

Excavations

The Alexander Mosaic, showing Alexander at left. A copy is displayed in the House of the Faun, where the original was found.
The Nilotic scene mosaic depicts exotic animals in the Nile.

The House of the Faun was initially excavated in 1830 by the German archaeological institute.

Five bodies were found in the house including one woman and three boys.[8]

The most notable of the artworks found in the House of the Faun is the

tesserae, and not the more common opus signinum, or other kinds of stone chips set in mortar.[12]

The Alexander Mosaic is complemented by other floor mosaics with

Nilotic scenes and theatrical masks.[2] Other notable works of art from the House of Faun include an erotic Satyr and Nymph and the fish mosaic, a piece closely resembling other mosaics in Pompeii.[2]

Building plan of the House of the Faun
Building plan

Architectural design

The House of the Faun was the largest and most expensive residence found in Pompeii, and today it is one of the most visited of the ruins. The house occupies an entire city block or insula, and the interior covers about 3,000 square meters, which is nearly 32,300 square feet.[13] The house is based upon two magnificent colonnaded gardens or peristyles, one Ionic and the other Doric. It also has two atriums, the Tuscan and the peristyle atrium.[3] The focus of the decoration of the house, the Alexander mosaic, is placed on the central visual axis between the first and second peristyles, in a room referred to as an exedra. Mosaics on the floors of the peristyles evoke the flora and fauna of the Nile. The wall frescoes above these pavements are the largest surviving example of the false marble panelling characteristic of the First Pompeian Style.[14]

Several historians (such as M. Bergmann, F. Guidobaldi, J.J. Thomas, A.-M. Guimier-Sorbets) have pointed out that the decorational scheme of the house's second phase shows clear links to Egypt and specifically to Ptolemaic Alexandria. The mosaics include typically Alexandrian/Egyptian iconography and motifs or appear to follow Alexandrian types.[15][16] They also make liberal use of faience, which was somewhat rare outside of Egypt at the time. Some of the paint work in the house mimics types of Egyptian stone that were not yet known on the Italian peninsula and the illusionistic stucco facade in the house's vestibule echoes Alexandrian architecture. Bergmann has suggested that even the bronze satyr which gave the house its name may have been created in Alexandria or by Alexandrian artists. Both Guidobaldi and Guimier-Sorbets conclude that Alexandrian workshops were responsible for at least parts of the decorational scheme of the second phase (such as the mosaic, opus sectile and paint work).[15]

Like many ancient Roman houses, the House of the Faun had

Oscan and Samnian, has caused debate between historians on whether it was put into place before the Roman colonization of Pompeii in 80 BCE or if the owners had "pretensions of Latin glory."[17]

Like other wealthy aristocrats of the Roman Republic, the owners of the House of the Faun installed a private bath system, or balneum, in the house. The baths were located in the domestic wing to the right of the entrance, and it along with the kitchen was heated by a large furnace.[3] The servants’ quarters were dark and cramped, and there was not much furniture.[18] The house features beautiful peristyle gardens, the second of which was created as a stage to host recitations, mimes, and pantomimes. Additionally, the house contained an entrance passage, a number of bedrooms (cubicula), dining rooms (triclinia) for both the summer and winter, a reception room (oecus), and an office (tablinum).[3]

Tourist attraction

In the present day, visitors can still explore the remains of the House of the Faun in modern Pompeii, along Via di Nola. Although most of the original artworks have been relocated to the National Archaeological Museum, Naples, the most famous pieces, like the Dancing Faun and the Alexander Mosaic, have been recreated to give tourists a clearer picture of what the house was originally like.[19] Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, one of Pompeii's past archaeological superintendents, explained, "I want visitors to have the impression that they are entering the same luxurious house in which the ancient Pompeian owners lived before it was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79."[19]

Gallery

  • Fruit and masks mosaic (detail)
    Fruit and masks mosaic (detail)
  • The "HAVE" Mosaic (spelling variant of Ave)
    The "HAVE" Mosaic (spelling variant of Ave)
  • Opus sectile in vestibulum
    Opus sectile in vestibulum
  • Nile River mosaic landscape
    Nile River mosaic landscape
  • Detail of an illustration from 1854. Impluvium with a small fountain in the center and copy of the Faun on the edge.[4]
    Detail of an illustration from 1854. Impluvium with a small fountain in the center and copy of the Faun on the edge.[4]

References

  1. Cambridge Ancient History
    .
    [New] ed. London: Cambridge University Press, 1970.
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ a b Zahn, Wilhelm Johann Karl (February 1831). "Ultime scoperte di Pompei ed Ercolano. Lettera del prof. Guglielmo Zahn al prof. Gerhard". Bullettino dell'Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (in Italian). Rome: Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica: 19, 25. Retrieved 1 May 2023. Il 26 ottobre si scoprì nell'atrio, e propriamente vicino all'impluvio, una figura di bronzo… ...nel mezzo è l'impluvio con una piccola fontana. Su di uno de' suoi lati si è rinvenuto un simulacro di bronzo.
  5. JSTOR 23621338
    . Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  6. ^ Clark, The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form 1956:263 (illustrated fig. 145).
  7. JSTOR 296132
    .
  8. ^ G. Luongo et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 126 (2003) p195
  9. ^ Hirst, K. "House of the Faun at Pompeii - Pompeii's Richest Residence". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  10. ^ Hirst, K. "House of the Faun at Pompeii - Pompeii's Richest Residence". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  11. ^ Pliny the Elder, Natural History xxxv. 10.36§ 22.
  12. S2CID 194101486
    .
  13. ^ Hirst
  14. ^ a b "Perseus Digital Library".
  15. ^ .
  16. .
  17. ^ Hirst, K. "House of the Faun at Pompeii - Pompeii's Richest Residence". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  18. .
  19. ^ a b Merola, Marco (2006). "Alexander, Piece by Piece". Archaeology. 59 (1).

External links

40°45′4.5″N 14°29′4.5″E / 40.751250°N 14.484583°E / 40.751250; 14.484583