Quick question for a Friday afternoon! Does anyone know of any Doric entablatures at Pompeii in a domestic context? In situ or otherwise...
Hope you can help!
James
A blog for all those who work on Pompeii and the other archaeological sites of the Bay of Naples.
5 comments:
Both peristyles in the House of the Faun have Doric entablatures. The first peristyle has Ionic columns-- the so-called Pompeian Ionic order. The Ionic columns replaced earlier Doric ones sometime in the early first century B.C. I can't think of Doric entablatures in other houses off of the top of my head, but I assume there are more.
Hi Ethan, thanks for the post. I was aware of the chronological changes in this house and of the orders in both peristylia but I was more looking for surviving examples. I'm pretty sure none of the entablatures from either peristyle remain in situ (or restored) although I know there are numerous architectural elements scattered throughout the building. Do you (or anyone else) know if these contained elements from the frieze? The reason I'm curious is that I am working on a reconstruction of a first century villa at Castelporziano on the coast, south of Ostia where we have a doric order colonnade. Hence my desire to find some better preserved Pompeian examples!
We are no architecture experts but are these of any interest?
The Doric and Ionic in the House of M. Epidius Rufus:
http://pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/R9/9%2001%2020.htm
The parts of a long frieze of terracotta covered with stucco with reliefs of "Nereidi su ippocampi" found in an angle of the peristyle of the House of the Faun:
http://pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/R6/6%2012%2002%20p3.htm
Not a house we know but, the other frieze is The punishment of Ixion on the wheel the only surviving a metope from the Doric temple in the Triangular Forum
http://pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/R8/8%2007%2031.htm
There are also a number of lararia with this kind of architecture in miniature.
We are "thinking" our way around Pompeii and will let you know if we come up with any others.
Jackie and Bob at pompeiiinpictures
Dear Jackie and Bob. That is a really helpful post, particularly the (apparent) metope reliefs from the Casa del Fauno. Ethan, were these what you are referring to? I'll have a dig around to see if I can find some further discussion on these (besides PAH). But if anyone else knows of any other elements of Doric entablature at Pompeii from private dwellings (triglyphs and metopes from the frieze etc) than I am all ears!
We have found a mention of Doric entablatures in Richardson's book: Pompeii - an architectural history on pages 90-91, and page 124. He seems to be referring to the Temple of Apollo, (p.91 "The entablature, now heavily picked and chiselled for restuccoing, was Doric, a common Pompeian fashion in the Tufa period" and also the House of the Faun (p.124 "The order is Pompeian Ionic with Attic bases, with a plain architrave and Doric frieze, a popular combination in late Tufa period architecture". These are the only two he mentions in the index.
We are still "thinking our way around Pompeii" but so far have not come up with any other examples in the many places we have been to. Hope this helps.
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