13
Boscoreale. Villa della Pisanella. Villa rustica di Lucio Cecilio Giocondo alla
Pisanella.
Excavated 1895-1899.
Description of Villa of
Pisanella by F. Barnabei, 1901, La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore,
(p.8-12)
It was in the ancient villa of contrada Pisanella that on 13th April 1895 the famous treasure was found, called of Boscoreale, which was transported and sold in France,
and is now displayed in Paris by the generosity of Baron Edmund Rothschild in the Louvre Museum, which forms one of the most admired treasures. It was opened three years ago to public exposure with great solemnity, and with the assistance of the President of the French Republic. And on that occasion, there were many discussions made, not all favorable to the Italian name, because we let those precious rarities go, which would have increased our artistic heritage. The treasure consisted of many silver vases from the start of the Empire, which were illustrated in foreign journals. Found with these vases were many gold coins , with marvellous preservation and belonging to the times of the early emperors.
It seems that not all silver vases purchased by Baron Edmund Bothschild were donated to the Louvre Museum. It is said that the Baron wanted to keep some near to him, not having the strength to break away from their beauty.
Moreover, what matters here to note is that this treasure doesn't seem to have belonged to the ancient house where the De Prisco found it. It was found in the underground, in the part of the building intended for the production of wine. This underground, was the lacus of the torcularium, i.e. the cistern in which the “must” fell underneath the press, where you pressed the grapes after they had been crushed in the tub. At the bottom of this underground place, as read in the scholarly monograph of ch. cav. Angelo Pasqui who had collected the most accurate information about the discovery, the skeleton of a man was found, and near him, the imprint of a leather bag that seemed to have been forced open.
It should be noted that apart from the man who had hidden the precious objects in the underground area, hidden them with him and not left them and kept them close even at the moment of the catastophe, when he fell asphyxiated onto those treasures, there were other people who were also concerned to save those gold and silver treasures. They placed themselves above the underground part to stand guard, as was demonstrated by their skeletons that were found there.
The building was a villa rustica, which had many rooms for the farm building nearby to the noble apartment, used as the dwelling for the owner of the fondo. But this apartment was not unusually sumptuous, nor vast, as one can argue from the rooms of the ground floor which were brought back to light, if it was true that the entire building was excavated. In any case, the richness and rarity of objects would have been in harmony with a rare appreciation of artistic decoration, which did not appear in this house; since there were also objects and tools that would not have belonged to the same house. There were two large bathtubs, cast in bronze, and one of them decorated with beautiful masks in the form of leonine protomes, from whose mouths rings were hanging. These tubs would not have been able to fit in the master bathroom of the owner’s apartment; not to mention that they were found at the entrance to the building, in a place that would have been less convenient.
The same way with which the precious objects were brought down into the underground area, and not abandoned by those who had carried them there, moreover the guard above, that the others put there, was the proof of theft. Now this theft was not necessarily from within the walls of the city, in the houses of Pompeii. Since, if the thieves had done their looting out there, they would have escaped by way of the sea, by the way that held all those who fled from Pompeii carrying away their treasures, as proved by excavations outside the gates of the city towards the seashore, far from that abyss that in the midst of darkness disseminated terror and death. They would certainly have not gone up towards Vesuvius.
The thieves made their robberies in nearby villas; and blinded by the greed of the stolen gold and silver, they hoped that they could save them and enjoy them, if at that moment they took refuge with all their booty in the house. Here instead, they remained suffocated, and left in the middle of the waves of ashes and boiling water, penetrating everywhere and fully submerging them, their impressions showing the agony in which their greed was extinguished. The plaster-cast was formed within the cavity of the thick ash, after desiccation of the corpses of those who were left to guard above the underground area, it showed people in terrible poses, which at the time were asphyxiated by pestilent fumes of red-hot vapour, striving to fend off death by putting a cloth over the mouth to defend their breath.
We have all the confirmation of the fact that directly relates to our subject, that not only were the wealthy homes in Pompeii, but that many rich families had sumptuous homes far from the city between the green vineyards on the slopes of the mount covered with vine leaves and sacred to Bacchus, where they enjoyed the peace of the countryside in the midst of the enticements of the most beautiful sky, and at the sight of the blue sea, which was chosen for the land of the Sirens.
Of these riches, we have now a wonderful example in the new villa restored to light in fondo Vono in contrada Grotta Franchini (See, our villa 16). Was it a villa rustica, as that of Pisanella but with the difference that the part of the buildings destined for agricultural use, at least by how much one can judge by the present state of the excavation, did not have the equal extent and importance. In this respect, the villa Pisanella remains so far the most complete and most instructive example reached by all the villas discovered in Pompeii and Stabia. The science of antiquity made it possible to better understand the way many farm operations proceeded. Equipment and instruments were seen which led the way to deal in a new and secure light, with the various questions raised with the help of Varrone and Columella and other writers on rustic matters not easily resolved. Here were found, nearly complete, the instruments or sets of tools that were used.
Given the difference between the villa of contrada Pisanella and the one of Grotta Franchini, it could be said at first glance, and considering what has so far been revealed by the excavations, that the latter would have been a house used merely as a splendid dwelling for a wealthy owner, and considering the short distance from one to the other building, that was only a few hundred metres, it would not appear impossible that the same family who owned the fondo in contrada Pisanella, and had their business there, also possessed the fondo in contrada Grotta Franchini and had this building as a diversorium. (inn or lodging house). But the hypothesis does not hold, because as we have mentioned, also here a part of the building used as a rustic building began to appear, and perhaps will be brought to light other parts that show that even here, the work to use the fruits of the countryside proceeded in a complete manner.
However, don’t be seduced by the assumption that the precious objects found in the underground area of the villa of Pisanella, necessarily had been stolen largely from the villa of fondo Vono. What is certain, is that the inhabitants of either villa, if they were there at the time of the catastophe, would have hardly had more thought than to flee themselves.
See Barnabei F., 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore. Roma: Accademia dei Lincei, (p.8-12).
Description of Villa of Pisanella by A. Mau, 1907, translated by Kelsey F. W. Pompeii: Its Life and Art. New York: Macmillan. p.361-6.
Villa of Pisanella, Plan IV of The Villa Rustica at Boscoreale. Chapter XLV,
See Mau, A., 1902, translated by Kelsey F. W. Pompeii: Its Life and Art. London: Macmillan, plan IV, p. 361.
KEY TO PLAN IV
A. Court.
1, 5. Cistern curbs.
2. Wash basin of masonry.
3. Lead reservoir from which water was conducted to the reservoir in the kitchen supplying the bath.
4. Steps leading to the reservoir.
B. Kitchen.
1. Hearth.
2. Reservoir containing water for the bath.
3. Stairway to rooms over the bath.
4. Entrance to cellar under the inner end of the first wine press, in which were the fastenings of the standard of the press beam.
C-F. Bath.
C. Furnace room.
D. Apodyterium.
E. Tepidarium.
F. Caldarium.
H. Stable.
J. Tool Room.
K, L. Sleeping Rooms.
N. Dining Room.
M. Anteroom.
O. Bakery.
1. Mill.
2. Oven.
P. Room with Two Wine Presses.
1, 1. Foundations of the presses.
2, 2, 2. Receptacles for the grape juice, dolia.
3. Cistern for the product of the second pressing, lacus.
4. Holes for the standards of the press beams.
5, 5. Holes for the posts at the ends of the two windlasses used in raising and lowering the press beams.
6. Pit affording access to the framework by which the windlass posts were tied down.
Q. Corridor.
1. Round vats, dolia.
R. Court for the Fermentation of Wine.
1. Channel for the fresh grape juice coming from P.
2. Fermentation vats, dolia.
3. Lead kettle over a fireplace.
4. Cistern curb.
S. Barn,
nubilarium (?).
T. Threshing Floor, area.
U. Open Cistern for the Water falling on the Threshing Floor.
V-V. Sleeping Rooms.
W. Entrance to Cellar under the Inner End of the Second Wine Press; see B. 4.
X. Room with Hand Mill.
Y. Room with Oil Press.
1. Foundation of the press.
2. Hole for the standard of the press beam.
3. Entrance to cellar with appliances for securing the press beam.
4. Holes for the windlass posts.
5. Hole affording access to the fastenings of the windlass posts.
6. Receptacle for the oil, gemellar.
Z. Room containing the Olive Crusher.
Chapter XlV The Villa Rustica at Boscoreale
Less than two miles north of Pompeii, near the village of Boscoreale, a farmhouse was excavated in 1893-94 on the property of Vincenzo de Prisco. In the last century similar buildings were brought to light in the vicinity of Castellammare, but they were covered up again. Especial importance attaches to this villa rustica, both on account of the extreme rarity of examples of the type and because of the character of the remains, which makes it possible to determine the arrangements with certainty.
The living rooms, the stable, and the rooms used for the making of wine and oil were all under one roof. The size of the building is not so great as might have been assumed from the variety of purposes which it served; the enclosed area, exclusive of the threshing floor, measures about 130 by 82 feet. The plan is regular, the principal entrance being near the middle of the southwest side.
The entrance was wide enough for carts and wagons, which were kept in the court (A). Along three sides of the court ran a colonnade, over which at the front were upper rooms; the roof on the left side and the rear rested on columns connected by a parapet. Under the colonnade at the further corner is a cistern curb (1), on one side of which is a large wash basin of masonry (2); on the other is a pillar supporting a small reservoir of lead (3). The reservoir, reached by means of steps (4), was filled from the cistern.
A large door in the right wall of the kitchen opened into the stable (H). Near it was a stairway (3) leading to upper rooms; in the corner was a pit (4) affording access to a small cellar in which the standard of the press beam in the adjoining room (P, 4) was made fast. In the opposite corner was a reservoir of lead (2) standing on a foundation of masonry; it received water from the reservoir in the court (A, 3) and supplied the bath. On the same side of the room is the entrance to the bath and to the closet (G).
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Hot water tank and
reservoir for supplying the bath in the villa rustica at Boscoreale.
See Mau, A., 1907, translated by Kelsey F. W. Pompeii: Its Life and Art. New
York: Macmillan. p. 362-3, fig. 185.
The arrangements of this bath are in a better state of preservation than those of any other Roman bath yet discovered; the tank and reservoir with the connecting pipes may now be seen at Pompeii in the little Museum near the Forum fitted up for the exhibition of the objects found in this villa. The bath rooms comprised an apodyterium (D), a tepidarium (E), and a caldarium (F) with a bath basin at one end and a labrum in a semicircular recess at the other. The bath was heated from a small furnace room (C). Over the hot air flue leading from the furnace into the hollow space under the floor of the caldarium was a water heater in the form of a half cylinder similar to the one found in the Stabian Baths (p. 194). The tepidarium, as well as the caldarium, had a hollow floor and walls.
Over the furnace stood a round lead tank, the lower part of which was encased in masonry; the pipes connecting it with the reservoir in the corner of the kitchen and with the bath 363 rooms were found in place, and are shown in Fig. 185. The middle pipe supplied the tank with cold water; the flow could be regulated by means of a stopcock. The lower pipe started from the reservoir, but before reaching the tank was divided, the left arm leading into the tank, the other into the bath basin. As there were stopcocks in the main pipe and in the arm entering the tank, by adjusting these the bath basin could be supplied with either hot or cold water through a single pipe. The upper pipe was divided in the same way, one arm leading to the labrum. In the public baths there was a separate tank for lukewarm water; here a moderate temperature was obtained by mixing hot and cold water.
At the bottom of the tank (seen at the right) is a short bibcock used when the water was drawn off. On the side of the reservoir we see the end of the feed pipe leading from the reservoir in the court; at the right is a supply pipe which conducted to the stable (H) water not needed for the bath.
On the same side of the court is a tool room (J), in which were found remains of tools; several sickles were hanging on the walls. Next are two sleeping rooms (K, L); a passage between them leads to the bakery, with a single mill (1) and oven (2). In the corner is a dining room (N) in which the remains of three couches were found; it was separated from the court by an anteroom (M).
Over the colonnade on the front side of the court was a sleeping room with a large room adjoining, perhaps the bedroom of the overseer, villicus, which, according to Varro should be near the entrance.
The oblong room at the northeast side of the court contained appliances for making wine. At each end was a large press with a raised floor (forum, 1). The presses were operated on the same principle as that previously described (p. 336, Fig. 168).
At the rear of each press was a strong standard (arbor, 4), to which the inner end of the press beam (prelum) was attached. In front stood two posts (stipites, 5-5), to which were fitted the ends of a horizontal windlass. By means of a pulley and a rope passed around the windlass, the outer end of the press beam could be raised or lowered. When it was lowered in order to 364 increase the pressure on the grapes, both standard and windlass posts would be pulled out of the ground unless firmly braced. Under the rear of each press was a small cellar, in which was placed a framework for holding the standard in place. One was entered from a pit in the corner of the kitchen (B, 4), the other from a similar depression in a small separate room (W); at 6 was a pit for fastening the windlass posts.
The grape juice ran into round vats (2, 2) sunk in the ground. In front of the first press are two, in front of the second only one; a cistern of which the curb (3) is indicated on the plan, here takes the place of the other vat. The cistern could be filled also from the first press by means of a lead pipe under the floor. The round vats were for the pure juice of the first pressing. Into the other was conducted the product of the second pressing; the remains of the grapes, after the juice had ceased to flow, were drenched with water and again subjected to pressure.
In Pliny's "Natural History" (XIV. xxi. 136) we read that in Campania the best wine underwent fermentation in the open air, exposed to sun, rain, and wind. This villa supplies an interesting confirmation of the statement; the round fermentation vats fill a large court (R), the walls of which are pierced with openings in order to give readier access to the wind. Along one side runs a channel of masonry about three feet above the ground (1), protected by a narrow roof; thence the grape juice was distributed through lead pipes to the vats. During the vintage season, the inner end of the channel was connected with the press room by means of a temporary pipe or channel entering the wall above the cistern (P, 3).
The surface of this court is higher than that of the rest of the building; instead of excavating in order to set the large earthen vats in the ground, the proprietor filled in with earth around them. In one corner is a lead kettle (3) with a place for building a fire underneath; perhaps wine was heated in it. The vats in the court seem not to have been used exclusively for wine. In one were found remains of wheat, in another of millet. Other vats stood in the passageway on the side of the court (Q, 1).
Three of the small rooms toward the rear were sleeping rooms (V-V). In another (X) was found a hand mill. At the end of 365 the passageway was a double room containing the appliances for making oil, a press (in Y) and a crusher (in Z). The press was like the wine press described above, only much smaller, with a raised floor (1), a standard for the press beam (2), a pit for bracing the standard of the press beam (3), two posts at the ends of the windlass (4, 4), a pit from which a crosspiece connecting these posts could be reached, and a vat (6) at one side for receiving the oil. This vat, for some reason not understood, was divided into two parts by a partition in the middle.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Olive crusher.
See Mau, A., 1907, translated by Kelsey F. W. Pompeii: Its Life and
Art. New York: Macmillan. p. 365, fig. 186.
The olive crusher, trapetum, now in the Museum at Pompeii mentioned above, is shown in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 186). It was designed to separate the pulp of the olives from the stones, which were thought to impair the flavor of the oil. It consists of a deep circular basin of lava, so hollowed out as to leave in the centre a strong standard of the stone, miliarium. In the top of this standard was set an iron pin, on which was fitted a revolving wooden crosspiece (shown in Fig. 186, restored). This carried two wheels of lava, having the shape of half a lens, which travelled in the basin. The wheels were carefully balanced so that they would not press against the side of the basin and crush the stones of the olives. 366
In the long room S remains of bean straw and parts of a wagon were found. South of it is the threshing floor (T), the surface of which is raised above the ground and covered with Signia pavement. The water that fell upon the threshing floor was conducted to a small open cistern (U).
For at least a part of the year the proprietor of the villa probably lived in it. So elaborate a bath would not have been built for the use of slaves; and in the second story was a modest but comfortable series of apartments (over V, W, X, and part of Q), apparently designed for the master's use, as was also the dining room (N) with K and L.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Olive crusher. Silver patera with a
representation of the city of Alexandria in high relief.
See Mau, A., 1907, translated by Kelsey F. W. Pompeii: Its Life and Art.
New York: Macmillan. p. 366, fig. 187.
In a place where such a find would least have been anticipated—the cistern in the room of the wine presses—was made a remarkable discovery of treasure. Here a man had taken refuge, and with his skeleton were found about a thousand gold coins, four gold bracelets, ear-rings, a gold chain, and the beautiful collection of silver ware (p. 380) afterwards presented by Baron Rothschild to the Louvre.
Items from Boscoreale Antiquarium.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. July 2010. Information card from Boscoreale Antiquarium.
Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. May 2018. Seven bronze kitchen domestic items found.
Now in Boscoreale Antiquarium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. July 2010. Information card on the 7 bronze kitchen pots in the photo above. Boscoreale Antiquarium.
Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. May 2018. Secchia in bronzo. Bronze bucket.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. May 2018. 12 bronze items found in the villa.
Now in Boscoreale Antiquarium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. July 2010. Detail of 12 bronze items (one is temporarily removed) found in the villa.
Now in Boscoreale Antiquarium. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. July 2010. Information card from Boscoreale Antiquarium giving detail of 12 bronze items found in the villa.
Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. May 2018. Boscoreale Antiquarium. Attrezzi di ferro.
Iron tools.
1: Zappa.
Hoe.
2: Zappa. Hoe.
Sulla carta
c'è scritto: Ben rappresentati, nel contesto della villa, sono gli attrezzi da
lavoro, sopratutto agricolo, o anche da muratore e da falegname. Gli attrezzi
erano tutti in ferro con impugnatura lignea. Oggi mancante.
On the card it says: Well represented, in the context of the villa, are the work tools, especially agricultural, or even as a bricklayer and a carpenter. The tools were all made of iron with a wooden handle. Missing today.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. May 2018. Boscoreale Antiquarium. Attrezzi di ferro.
Iron tools.
3: Pala.
Shovel.
4: Scalpello.
Chisel.
5: Accetta.
Hatchet.
6: Accetta.
Hatchet.
7: Leva. Lever.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. May 2018. Boscoreale Antiquarium. Attrezzi di ferro. Iron tools.
8: Falce. Scythe.
9: Martello. Hammer.
10: Accetto. Hatchet.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. May 2018. Items from villa on display in Boscoreale Antiquarium. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Richly decorated bronze door handle.
Photograph ©
Parco Archeologico di Pompei.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Richly decorated bronze door handle.
Now in Boscoreale Antiquarium.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Bronze cart shaft ends decorated with rams heads.
Photograph ©
Parco Archeologico di Pompei.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. September 2011.
Bronze cart shaft parts, one round with rings attached and two square ends decorated with a rams head.
Now in Boscoreale Antiquarium. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale.
Feet of bronze and decorated bands with damascened motifs that adorned the wooden part of a triclinium.
Photograph ©
Parco Archeologico di Pompei.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. September 2011.
Feet of bronze and decorated bands with damascened motifs that adorned the wooden parts of a triclinium couch.
Now in Boscoreale Antiquarium. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
The Casts. Exhibition at Boscoreale Antiquarium, 2010. (p.13-14). Concept and text by Grete Stefani
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. July 2010.
Boscoreale Antiquarium card with information about casts. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
In the Villa of Pisanella, numerous animals were found during the excavations, as well as the following human victims found there.
One body was found in Fauces (E), his skeleton was found a metre and a half above the floor: he had been carrying a few coins and wearing an iron ring with an incised gem on his left hand.
More bodies were found in the room that contained the two wine presses Torcularium (P). One man had entered the cistern located beneath the calcatorium “b”, and had perhaps left the rich silver hoard and gold coins that were discovered there. He was found face downwards, and he held bracelets and a long golden necklace in his hands. More than a thousand gold coins were scattered around him and a chest containing the precious silver service was found in front of him.
Three other bodies were found near calcatorium “a”.
It was possible to make a complete cast of one that lay along the raised pressing platform, with his head on the rim of the terracotta receptacle used to collect the wine: “He was supine, his body stretched out and his head thrown back, with right arm raised and elbow almost resting on the ground, his left arm stretched along his side and wrapped in cloth, his legs and feet extended”.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Cast of supine man.
See Notizie
degli Scavi di Antichità, 1895, Fig.53b.
The second body “lay at right angle to the first, its head on top of the platform. A cast was made only of the head, identified as that of a woman, her hair piled high on her head and a scarf wrapped around her neck and mouth.”
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Cast of head of a woman.
See Notizie
degli Scavi di Antichità, 1895, Fig.53c.
The third body “was also at right angle to the first, and from the hips down lay beneath the body of the woman, so it was possible to make a cast of the torso as far as the abdomen. This was a man wearing a cloak raised to cover his mouth, his body extended on the forum, his legs alongside the platform, his left arm by his side and the other folded above him, his fist clenched.”
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Cast of man wearing a cloak and with clenched fist.
See Notizie
degli Scavi di Antichità, 1895, Fig.53d.
The three casts were kept in a part of the Antiquarium of Pompeii devoted to the Villa Pisanella. During the Second World War, the Antiquarium of Pompeii suffered heavily from bombs dropped by Allied Forces, and two of the casts were destroyed.
Only the cast of the woman’s head remains. This can be seen in Boscoreale Antiquarium. A pair of gold earrings were found with her skull, probably the ones that can be seen today in the Louvre in Paris, together with the silver treasure found in the cistern. The earrings led to the belief that the victim was the owner of the Villa, perhaps the Maxima who owned the silver service and had had her name engraved on many of the vessels.
![Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Bronze Running Eros, Holding a Torch.
According to the Morgan Library, the figure was found in the ruins of the Villa Maxima [=Villa Pisanella], near Boscoreale.
See https://www.themorgan.org/objects/item/114094
Now in The Morgan Library and Museum, New York. Bequest of J.P. Morgan, Jr., inventory number AZ010.](Villa_013%20Boscoreale%20Villa%20della%20Pisanella%20p3_files/image029.jpg)
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Bronze Running Eros, Holding a Torch.
According to the Morgan Library, the figure was found in the ruins of the Villa Maxima [=Villa Pisanella], near Boscoreale.
See https://www.themorgan.org/objects/item/114094
Now in The Morgan Library and Museum, New York. Bequest of J.P. Morgan, Jr., inventory number AZ010.
De Cou H. F. Antiquities from Boscoreale in Field Museum Of Natural History (January 1, 1912), p. 155-6
The mural decorations which are described under the following numbers, though found in or near Boscoreale, are, as has been indicated (p. 149), derived from different villas. Fourteen pieces are said to be from the Villa of the Treasure (No. I), one (No. 24658) is very probably from a villa in the Piazza Mercato of the village of Boscoreale (No. III), and three (Nos. 24671-24673) are from another villa in the vicinity.
The frescoes had suffered greatly before entering the Museum, but owing to much patient and skilful mending appear now as in very fair condition.
Greco-Roman decorative wall-painting as exemplified in the Campanian cities has been divided (See Mau, Geschichte d. dec. Wandmalerei in Pompeii, Berlin, 1882. Mau-Kelsey, Pompeii (2d ed.), PP. 457 ff.) into four classes or styles. The walls of the First Style, which is the earliest in date, imitate veneer of marble of various colors; those of the Second and Fourth Styles are decorated chiefly with architectural motives, which in the former preserve verisimilitude, but in the latter tend to fanciful and impossible constructions. In the Third Style architectural motives, though freely used, form a decorative element which is kept subordinate to the general scheme of the design and does not seem to form an end in itself. Both the Third and the Fourth Styles are derived from the Second, though probably developed in different centers. The walls of the Fourth Style form the latest group in point of time. The frescoes of the Field Museum collection which make use of architectural motives are of the Fourth Style, though one (No. 24671) shows marked influence of the Third Style.
With regard to the rooms and walls from which the decorations were taken very little detailed information is accessible. From the official report of the excavation of 1899 it is possible that some of the architectural pieces (No. 24657 or 24651, 24656, 24659) are from the triclinium or dining-room (N). (See Notizie degli Scavi, 1899, P- 15 (Sogliano). But not to be ascribed to this room if the black stripes at the sides are part of the background.) This was a room with tripartite horizontal division of the decoration. There was a black dado, above which the main part of the surface had a yellow background. The ground of the uppermost part was white. A general idea of the arrangement of such a decoration may be obtained from a wall of the Casa della seconda Fontana di Musaico in Pompeii, illustrated in plate CXXX. (After Zahn, Die schoensten Ornamente, etc. Vol. ii, plate 95.) In this it will be seen that the architectural prospects at either side of the middle panel of the principal surface correspond to such pieces as No. 24651, the leaf-framed compartments at the sides of the upper part to Nos. 24652, 24655, while the still higher compartments with a goat or deer in the center are analogous to No. 24653. The small, oblong, red-framed compartments at the sides of the right and left panels of the principal surface bear some resemblance to No. 24650, which is shown by the yellow background outside of the frame to be from the central portion of the wall - assuming that it is from the triclinium. The same division is said in the above mentioned Report to have contained “flying monsters” which may probably be identified with the androsphinxes, Nos. 24646-24649, also with yellow ground. A suggestion for the position of No. 24654 is contained in a Pompeian decorated wall (Zahn, Die schoensten Ornamente, etc. Vol. iii, plate 96) of the Fourth Style, in which a very similar picture is placed at the bottom of the upper division, just beneath a compartment similar to Nos. 24652, 24655. No. 24661 is perhaps from the upper division, or possibly from the ceiling. (Cf. Villa of Diomedes, Zahn, op. cit. Vol. i, plate 67) The large pieces Nos. 24671, 24673 are probably from the central division of the walls from which they were taken.
Owing to the fact that the pieces are encased in permanent frames it has not been possible to make a thorough examination of the plaster underneath the surface or to ascertain just how closely the ancient prescription of three coats of plaster and two or three of stucco (Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxxvi, 176. Vitruvius, vii, 3, 6) was followed. So far as the interior of the pieces could be observed in places where the surface is cracked or detached, the plaster is coarse and gritty except near the surface, where a finer coating of the same color was added to receive the paint. This is the only 'stucco' to be seen. The thickness of the pieces appears to be about three inches, (Cf. Mau-Kelsey, Pompeii (2d ed.), p. 456) except No. 24673, the only one accurately measured, (Cf. p. 181.) which is five inches deep from front to back.
The technique employed in the application of the paint is
very probably true or “real” fresco. (Cf. Donner in Heibig, Wandgemalde der v. Vesuv verschutteten Stadte
Campaniens, p. i.)
Frescoes in Field Museum Of Natural History
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Flying winged griffin (lion figure). Decorative figure winged male sphinx on yellow background.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24646. See in Field Museum
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Decorative figure of a winged male sphinx monster flying upward to right. Lion and human figure with a wide collar possibly to represent mane, cap with feather plumes, wedge shaped beard.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24647. See in Field Museum
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Decorative
figure of a winged male sphinx monster flying upward to left.
Lion and human figure with a wide collar possibly to represent mane, cap with feather plumes, beardless, no indication of sex.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24648. See in Field Museum
Lion and human figure with a wide collar possibly to represent mane, cap with feather plumes, beardless, no indication of sex.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24649. See in Field Museum
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Decorative
compartment with representation of three vases with palm tree branches.
According to De Cou, the first
vase has a wide lip and short neck and is painted to
represent a metal surface with raised rings. On the left side of the lower part
of the body there is a ring handle with ornamental attachment, a projecting
head like that of a horse, and on the stem a festoon of ribbon.
The second vase has flaring sides and a high base and is also painted to represent a metal surface with raised rings.
The third vase, standing some
distance to the right, is shaped like the first but only drawn in outline with
raised bands in the centre like the others.
Between the second and third vases
is a mat on which is a table with three straight legs visible and an object on
top.
At the right hand end is another
table on which an object resembling a cup with a handle is sketched.
See De Cou H. F. Antiquities
from Boscoreale in Field Museum Of Natural History (January 1, 1912), p.
166-7.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24650. See in Field Museum
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Panel with architectural design. Possibly from triclinium Pasqui F, Mau N.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24651. See in Field Museum
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Decorative
compartment with border and top piece.
Compartment is a room enclosed by
a four sided frame or border.
Suspended vase in middle. Rosette and leaves partially visible.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, part of inventory number 24652. See in Field Museum
Now in the Field Museum, part of inventory number 24652. See in Field Museum
According to De Cou, this is 24652.
On the right side there seems to be a rosette.
In the white interior there is a large two-handled vase or basket suspended from the ceiling by means of a bright red cord, which parts near the lower end into two strands, each of which is attached to a handle.
The top-piece has its own border of very dark red with a pale yellow line about the inner edge. The interior has a brick-red ground with decorations in the same pale yellow as the line. On a base consisting of a horizontal stripe are represented three trees and two horses.
Abraded in lower right corner. Considerably worn and faded.
From the close resemblance existing between this piece and No. 24655 it is very probable that they are corresponding pieces from the same wall.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Decorative
compartment with border and top piece detached from a white ground.
Design figure of a deer gazing backwards. Dimensions 2 feet 3 inches x 1 foot 7 inches
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24653. See in Field Museum
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment.
Small decorative compartment showing an interior with a
window. Pine cone, fungus, wreaths, plants.
According to de Cou, on the window-sill there is a heap of objects of somewhat uncertain character lying on an elliptical drab mat.
The following is an enumeration of them:
2 large brown platters with sloping sides.
3 yellow objects, probably gourds.
1 tall slender brown jug lying on its side.
2 brown staves lying crossed on top of the preceding objects. They seem to be made of grapevine, which is untwisted at one end.
2 brown objects hanging from near opposite ends of one of the staves, perhaps the bodies or skins of small animals (not hares), perhaps sausages.
I large pine cone.
1 grayish object resembling a fungus.
2 wreaths, consisting of hoop and straight end, in brownish white. They hang over the edge of the sill.
Several plants with tall slender whitish leaves. Some of them rise above the heap, others hang over the inner edge of the sill.
Beneath the window there is a rather broad ledge or floor which is white in the foreground, brownish red at the left end and light brown at the back, where it is not very clearly distinguished from the front upright wall. On this floor there are several objects.
At the left a large whitish and greenish gray bird, perhaps a female pheasant, seems to be sitting on a sort of nest.
Next to her on the right there is a corresponding male bird painted in a variety of colors.
In the foreground there are two staves like those in the window-sill, and the spiral end of a third.
At the left end of the white part of the. floor there is a reddish brown platter, somewhat larger than those described above, tilted against the wall.
At the right of the male bird there is an uncertain object in reddish brown, perhaps a vase.
In the extreme right corner of the floor there is a reddish brown pitcher with base, handle and long curved beak, lying on its side.
See De Cou H. F. Antiquities from Boscoreale in Field Museum Of Natural History (January 1, 1912), p. 168.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24654. See in Field Museum.
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Decorative
compartment with border and top piece.
Compartment is a room enclosed by
a four sided frame or border.
Suspended vase in middle. Rosette and leaves partially visible. Birds in top panel.
According to De Cou, this is 24655.
The suspended vase is like that of the other fresco (No. 24652), but the details are more clearly preserved.
In the interior of the top-piece the base-line is visible, but of the figures only indistinct blotches remain.
One of these (on the left side) may have been a horse, the others are small and shapeless.
From the close resemblance existing between this piece and No. 24652 it is very probable that they are corresponding pieces from the same wall.
See De Cou H. F. Antiquities from Boscoreale in Field Museum Of Natural History (January 1, 1912), p. 165, pl. CXXIII.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, where it is shown as 24655 See in Field Museum and as part of inventory number 24652 See in Field Museum.
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Possibly from triclinium Pasqui F, Mau N.
Panel with architectural design very similar to No. 24651, except that the arrangement of the buildings is reversed.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24656. See in Field Museum
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Possibly from triclinium Pasqui F, Mau N.
Panel with architectural prospect.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24657. See in Field Museum
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Possibly from triclinium Pasqui F, Mau N.
Panel with incomplete architectural design.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24659. See in Field Museum
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment (2ft 2inches by 1 foot 2 inches) which appears to have been missing in 1909.
It is not mentioned in the 1912 book by De Cou.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
The Field Museum, inventory number 24660. See in Field Museum
Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale. Fresco fragment. Small decorative compartment with bird.
Quadrangular border, flying bird or griffin with curved beak, outspread toes or talons.
No. 24661 is perhaps from an upper division, or possibly from the ceiling.
Photo © Field Museum of Natural History - CC BY-NC.
Now in the Field Museum, inventory number 24661. See in Field Museum
Villa della
Pisanella, Boscoreale. Mural Decoration from the Casa della seconda Fontana di
Musaico, Pompeii.
According to De Cou, this is a comparable wall layout against which he compares the frescoes and suggests possible positions. A general idea of the arrangement of such a decoration may be obtained from a wall of the Casa delta seconda Fontana di Musaico in Pompeii, illustrated in plate CXXX (Zahn II, 95). (See VI.8.24).
In this it will be seen that the architectural prospects at either side of the middle panel of the principal surface correspond to such pieces as No. 24651, the leaf-framed compartments at the sides of the upper part to Nos. 24652, 24655, while the still higher compartments with a goat or deer in the center are analogous to No. 24653. The small, oblong, red-framed compartments at the sides of the right and left panels of the principal surface bear some resemblance to No. 24650, which is shown by the yellow background outside of the frame to be from the central portion of the wall - assuming that it is from the triclinium.
See De Cou H. F. Antiquities from Boscoreale in Field
Museum Of Natural History (January 1, 1912), p. 155-6, pl. CXXX.
See Zahn, W., 1842. Die schönsten Ornamente und merkwürdigsten Gemälde aus Pompeji, Herkulanum und Stabiae: II. Berlin: Reimer, Taf. 95.