100. Castellamare di Stabia, Villa del Pastore. Proprietà Rosa Fusco, a pochi metri a sud-est del Secondo Complesso.

Located between Varano and the Villa San Marco on the property of Rosa Fusco, a few metres south-east of the Second Complex.

Excavated by C. Weber May 1754 and F. la Vega 1775 to 1778 and reburied.

Part re-excavated in the 1967 and 1968 by L. d’Orsi and reburied.

It was brought to light between May 1967 and September 1968, following an excavation carried out for construction purposes at the request of the then owner Rosa Fusco.

The villa was reburied in the 1970s, pending completion of the process of expropriation. The villa is today covered by modern construction.

Essa fu portata in luce tra il maggio 1967 e il settembre 1968, a seguito di uno scavo eseguito a scopo edilizio su richiesta dell’allora proprietaria Rosa Fusco.

La villa era rinterrata negli anni ‘70, in attesa del completamento delle pratiche di esproprio. La villa oggi è coperta da costruzioni moderne.

See http://www.stabiae.org/foundation/?tag=villa-del-pastore

Villa del Pastore or "Villa of the Shepherd" in English, this villa gets its name from a small statue of a shepherd that was discovered at this site. The villa, at 19,000 square metres area, is one of the very largest ever discovered and is even larger than Villa San Marco with many rooms, large baths and luxurious gardens. It lacks, however, any domestic rooms suggesting that it may not have been a residence. One hypothesis is that it is instead a valetudinarium (health spa) to allow people to take advantage of the famous spring waters of Stabiae.

The villa stands on the edge of the plateau Varano with a panoramic view, a short distance from Villa Arianna. It was explored three times: its discovery dates back to 1754 to 1759 when Karl Weber brought to light a large garden; the second campaign under Peter la Vega was carried out between 1775 and 1778; the third and final exploration dates to 1967–68 when the villa was rediscovered following the discovery of a perimeter wall after removal of a layer of lapilli on agricultural land. This excavation was funded by the landowner and the superintendent of the time tried to expropriate church land in the area between Villa Arianna and Villa San Marco in order to combine the areas of the villas of Stabiae. While waiting for the permit, the villa was re-buried in 1970 to prevent it from ruin. As a result of various bureaucratic problems related to the expropriation, the villa remains buried and has not yet been fully excavated.

The Villa del Pastore dates from between the eighth century BC and 79 AD. It is divided into two parts: a large outdoor area and a series of residential rooms. The garden area is bordered to the south by the semi-circular wall, while on the north is a 140m long cryptoporticus which runs parallel to a colonnade on a slightly lower level. At the centre of the garden is a swimming pool (natatio) with marble staircase. In the centre of the semi-circular alcove was found the statue that gives the villa its name, of marble, 65 cm tall in Hellenistic style and is an old shepherd dressed in hides, carrying on his shoulders a kid, with a basket with grapes and bread on his left hand while in the right hand is a hare. Also in the garden to the south west is a 10x2m portico paved with black and white mosaic. Also a small square nymphaeum was found in the centre of which was placed a marble labrum.

The second part of the villa has fifteen rooms around a central courtyard, on the north side of which lies the baths area in which is located an apodyterium, a steam bath, a kitchen and a vestibule.

The villa is spread over three levels as revealed by recent landslides, including a number of substructures which had the dual function of containment of the hill and as the villa's support base; like the other villas nearby, it was directly connected to the sea by a series of ramps sloping toward the beach.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabiae#Villa_del_Pastore 24/12/2020

Once the ancient structure was verified, Superintendent A. De Franciscis requested the expropriation of the whole area including the Secondo Complesso to the west and Villa del Pastore to the east with the aim of connecting the three villas and providing a suitable access route. During the long drawn out process and legal wrangling the area was, according to a report by the acting superintendent L. D’Amore on 21st March 1980, radically transformed by “waste dumps and landfills of varying nature and the rise of an array of illegally built constructions”.

According to Sodo (2004), the request for expropriation has been put forward again as part of the Archaeological Park project, because from both a morphological and historical point of view the area can only be considered as unique.

See Sodo A. M., 2004. In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite. Castellammare: Nicola Longobardi, pp. 63-5.

According to Tina Lepri, today (2010) the excavation and the soil that hides mosaics, frescoes and the rest of the villa, are almost erased. Occupied by an inexorable flow of cement: sheds, houses and a great pizzeria. Everything unauthorized.

See http://www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/articoli/2010/10/104565.html

Il 7 aprile del 1754, a pochi anni dall’inizio degli scavi borbonici sul pianoro di Varano, l’ingegnere spagnolo Alcubierre, che dirigeva l’opera di scavo, propose al Weber, che lo affiancava in tale impresa, di fare sondaggi sul pianoro di Varano nelle proprietà dei Gesuiti e presso la masseria Irace. Venne così scoperta una vasta villa, la cui esplorazione venne però abbandonata definitivamente nel 1778, le strutture antiche furono rinterrate e i terreni tornarono a essere coltivati.

Dopo due secoli la villa venne di nuovo individuata da Libero d’Orsi e in parte riscavata tra il 1967 ed il 1968. Tuttavia, dopo alcuni anni di abbandono e l’impossibilità di assicurare una custodia allo scavo, per proteggere le strutture che si andavano degradando, la soprintendenza archeologica decise il rinterro dell’edificio. Nel giro di pochi anni su parte dello stesso fu costruita una struttura abusiva ancor oggi presente.

La villa è caratterizzata da un lungo muro in opus reticulatum policromo di tufo grigio e lava coronato da archi rovesci, alto 2,12 m. dal piano di campagna antico. Il 14 gennaio del 1968 si raggiunse il punto verso est, non scavato in epoca borbonica, dove il muro piegava ad angolo retto proseguendo poi verso nord con lo stesso ritmo, racchiudendo, con una teoria di circa 60 archi, un ampio spazio rettangolare. Fu di nuovo parzialmente scavata la piscina e presso il suo angolo meridionale il 19 settembre 1967 si rinvenne la statua in marmo del pastore, alta 67 cm., che ha dato il nome alla villa.

Le particolarità planimetriche e l’originalità delle soluzioni sembrano essere delle peculiarità dell’architettura Stabiana, elementi distintivi delle grandi ville di otium di S. Marco, Arianna e del Pastore: qui, a i condizionamenti morfologici e l’accorpamento di edifici preesistenti portò alla creazione di enormi complessi, ciascuno dei quali si estendeva per oltre 10.000 mq.

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On 7 April, 1754, a few years after the beginning of the Bourbon excavations on the plateau of Varano, the Spanish engineer Alcubierre, who directed the excavation work, proposed to Weber, who worked with him in that undertaking, to do surveys on the plateau of Varano in Jesuit property and at the masseria Irace. As a result, a large villa was discovered, the exploration of which was finally abandoned in 1778, the ancient structures were reburied, and the land returned to cultivation.

After two centuries, the villa was again identified by Libero D'Orsi and partially excavated between 1967 and 1968. However, after some years of neglect, and the inability to provide an enclosure to the excavations, to protect the facilities that were degrading, the archaeological superintendency decided to rebury the building. Within a few years an unauthorised structure was built on part of it and is still present.

The villa is characterised by a long wall in opus reticulatum of polychrome grey tufa and lava crowned with upside-down arcs, 2.12 m high above the ancient ground level. On 14 January 1968 a point eastward was reached, not dug during the Bourbon period, where the wall bent at right angles and then northward in the same style, enclosing, with, in theory, about 60 arches, a large rectangular space. Once again the pool was partially excavated at its southern corner where on September 19, 1967 was uncovered the marble statue of the Shepherd, height 67 cm., which gave its name to the villa.

The planimetric characteristics and originality of the solutions seem to be peculiarities of Stabian architecture, distinctive of the great leisure villas of San Marco, Arianna and del Pastore: here, the morphological conditions and the incorporation of pre-existing buildings led to the creation of huge complexes, each of which covered more than 10,000 square metres.

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Bibliography

D’Orsi L., 1996. Gli Scavi di Stabiae. Roma: Quasar, years 1967-1968 [see Varano Rosa Fusco]

De Franciscis A.,1967. Atti 6. Conv. Taranto 1966, p. 239.

De Franciscis A.,1967. Fasti Archeologici 22, 5042.

De Franciscis A., 1974. Ercolano e Stabia: I Documentari 71, Visione d’Italia. Novara: Istituto geografico De Agostini, p. 63 no. 83.

De Vos A. and De Vos M., 1982. Guida archeologiche Laterza: Pompei, Ercolano, Stabia. Rome: Laterza, p. 321f.

Himmelmann N., 1980. Uber Hirten-Genre in Der Antiken Kunst (Abh. der Rheinisch-Westfäl. Akad. der Wissenschaften). 65, 1980, 113. 158; H. P.

Jashemski, W. F., 1979. The Gardens of Pompeii. New York: Caratzas, p. 333, fig 534.

Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas, p.311-2.

Jashemski W. F., 2014. Discovering the Gardens of Pompeii: The Memoirs of a Garden Archaeologist 1955 – 2004, p. 161.

Kockel V., 1985. Funde und Forschungen in den Vesuvstädten 1: Archäologischer Anzeiger, Heft 3. 1985, p. 529ff, Abb. 11. 18. 23 Nr. 100.

Laubscher H. P., 1982. Fischer und Landleute, Mainz: Von Zabern, p. 113, n. 28;

Pesando F. and Guidobaldi M., 2006. Guida archeologiche Laterza: Pompei, Oplontis, Ercolano, Stabia. Rome: Laterza, p. 412, pp. 421-3.

Ruggiero M., 1881. Degli scavi di Stabia dal 1749 al 1782, Naples, pl. III, pl. VII. Read at Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen

Salza Prina Ricotti, E., 1983. L'arte del Convito nella Roma antica. Roma: Bretschneider, p. 47 Abb. 32 (rear view).

Schumacher W. N., 1977. Hirt und "Guter Hirt": Römische Quartalschrift 34 Supp., p. 107f. Taf. 24.

Sodo A. M., 2004. In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite. Castellammare: Nicola Longobardi, pp. 63-5.

Spinazzola V. 1928. Le arti decorative in Pompei e nel Museo Nazionale di Napoli. Milano: Bestetti e Tumminelli, Taf. 41.

http://www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/articoli/2010/10/104565.html

http://www.liberoricercatore.it/?p=13366

http://www.stabiae.org/foundation/?tag=villa-del-pastore

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabiae#Villa_del_Pastore

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Plans

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. 1760 plan of eastern part of the villa by Carl Weber.

See Ruggiero M., 1881. Degli scavi di Stabia dal 1749 al 1782, Naples, pl. III.

The area was explored between 1754 and 1759 when the large “garden” was discovered in the then Masseria dei Gesuiti.

See Sodo A. M., 2004. In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite. Castellammare: Nicola Longobardi, p. 63.

See Ruggiero M., 1881. Degli scavi di Stabia dal 1749 al 1782, Naples, Tav. III.

Ruggiero Tavole III e VII.

English

The building drawn in Tav. III was joined the other in Tav. VII which was excavated more than twenty-two years later; this is known visibly from the comparison of the western and eastern sides of the two drawings and from the Giornale del la Vega which says discovered in 1754 the place marked with no. 33 on the eastern border of his plan. The way the one building was joined to the other is seen in the margin of the topographic map, and he remains somewhat confused by the lack of exactness of the Weber plan; as there is no doubt about the design of La Vega, as there is in addition to the plan in smaller proportions published by me, a large and very clear sketch of his hand with the written measurements of all sides and all the diagonals with which he certainly does not err. The site of these remains is not even doubtful, as it is very well determined by the western bank of Varano overlooking Castellammare and by the adjoining farms of the Giraci and the Jesuits.

The first and largest building to the east has a large square elongated plaza, very similar to a palaestra, surrounded by a wall pierced with thick oval windows for protection against the midday sun. In the middle is a vast pool, lacus or natatio, in response to which the wall expands in a semicircle. The opposite side is enclosed by a long crypta also facing south with thirty-two folding shuttered windows, from which were collected the bronze hinges, and behind the crypta was a porch of equal length facing to the north. If this porch was one side of the peristyle shown in Tav. VIII and discovered also in Varano but without precise indication of the place, the building would be a far more complete, and both could be better interpreted.

Returning then to the two our plates, III and VII, a little further down from the western end of the crypta and the portico can be seen in the drawing of La Vega at no. 39 a bath, tepidarium, with the pool surrounded by steps and, below, the suspensurae. Close to the bathroom is a large room (no. 33) with marble floor, a portico with five columns on two sides and an apse in the middle that has two more columns in front of it and the black mosaic floor surrounded with white bands. The shape of this room is similar in all to the Basilica of Otricoli, the ancient Ocriculum, and of greater proportions; and I would also call it Basilica if the site and the quality of the nearby buildings did not contradict it. I would therefore propose the definition of Oecus Aegyptus which agrees equally with what Vitruvius writes, especially since the upper portico must necessarily have been there, because as the room is closed on almost all sides from other buildings, it could only have light from on high, between the middle of the second order of the columns.

Further up, next to the plaza there are three rooms, one larger in the middle with a marble floor (no. 50), which being one third longer than its width, is found precisely with the proportions of an ephebeum; and two smaller ones on the sides, one of which (no. 53) had the floor and walls encrusted with marble, which could be said to be corycaeum and conisterium. In the right corner of the one with n. 53 is a shrine facing the opposite side with a niche in the middle that looks like a sacellum. If it can be said that the large plaza is a palaestra, I would conclude that the five rooms described so far are its usual accessories.

The other building that leads into the plaza by a short corridor consists of a long row of fifteen ground floor rooms, almost all of the same size with as many on the upper floor which was entered by a balcony passage, (moenianum), of which the ladder was not found or noted. Most of these rooms, due to the position of the doors and what was in them (vases of all kinds, furniture feet, strigils, mirrors, inkwells, a seal with the letters MPC (n. 43), lamps with their tripods and candelabra, and even a small night lamp, lucerna cubicularia, with other household items) could only be cubicula or more properly cellae.

In front of them is a courtyard and on the opposite side, first some rooms, then a taberna (no.20) with its masonry counter, then a sweating chamber (no.23) perhaps preceded by the apodyterium and the tepidarium (nos.22 and 22), similar to those of Casa di Diomede in Pompeii and with the low wall to sit in the tepidarium; then a large kitchen (n. 27) with the hypocausis for the adjoining stove and two cellarii on the right and left of the entrance. Further on, through a graceful half-circle vestibule with two columns in front, you pass into a tetrastyle courtyard (no. 31) next to the culina with a viridarium in the middle and a sacrarium (no. 28) at the head where there was a mosaic floor, the altar with a niche and the walls painted with bacchantes, cupids, goats and other figures. From the drawing there appears to be no triclinium or sella, nor does the courtyard have any other exit than the one leading to the plaza.

This second building, undoubtedly inhabited by many more people than can be assumed in a family, has neither form nor the layout, as far as I understand it, of either a house or villa; nor could one reasonably attribute to it one or the other quality, since it is linked to another building that is certainly not for private use. In the absence of any other ideas, among the most plausible interpretations I would put are those of the hospitium and the valetudinarium, inclining a little more to the latter for the reasons mentioned above.

See Ruggiero M., 1881. Degli scavi di Stabia dal 1749 al 1782, Naples, TAVOLE III E VII, p. XII-XIV.

Italiano

L'edifizio disegnato alla Tav. III era unito all'altro della Tav. VII che fu scavato più di ventidue anni dopo; questo si conosce visibilmente dal riscontro dei lati occidentale ed orientale dei due disegni e dal Giornale del la Vega che dice scoperto nel 1754 il luogo segnato col n. 33 sul confine orientale della sua pianta. Il modo come l'uno edifizio era all'altro congiunto si vede in margine della carta topografica, e resta alquanto confuso per la poca esattezza della pianta del Weber; poichè del disegno di la Vega non è da dubitare, essendoci oltre alla pianta in proporzioni minori da me pubblicata, uno schizzo grande e chiarissimo di sua mano con le misure scritte di tutti i lati e di tutte le diagonali con cui certamente non si erra. Il sito di queste fabbriche neppure è dubbio, trovandosi assai ben determinato dalla ripa occidentale di Varano che guarda Castellammare e dai contigui poderi dei Giraci e dei Gesuiti.

Il primo e maggior corpo di fabbrica verso levante ha una gran piazza bislunga, molto simigliante ad una palaestra, cinta da un muro traforato da spesse finestre ovali per difesa del sole di mezzodì. Nel mezzo è un vasto lacus o natatio, a riscontro del quale il muro si allarga in semicerchio. Il lato opposto è chiuso da una lunghissima crypta rivolta anch'essa a mezzodì con trentadue finestre valvatae, di cui furono raccolti i gangheri di bronzo, e a ridosso della crypta un portico di altrettanta lunghezza in faccia a settentrione. Se questo portico fosse un lato del peristylium, disegnato alla Tav. VIII e scoperto anch'esso a Varano ma senza precisa indicazione di luogo, sarebbe assai più compiuto l'edifizio, e assai meglio si potrebbe l’uno e l’altro interpetrare.

Tornando dunque alle due nostre tavole, III e VII, poco più in giù dell’estremo occidentale della crypta e del portico si vede nel disegno di la Vega al n. 39 una sala da bagno, tepidarium, con l'alveus cinto da scalini e, sotto, le suspensurae. Allato al bagno sorge una gran sala (n. 33) col pavimento di marmo, un portico di cinque colonne in due lati e un abside nel mezzo che ha in fronte altre due colonne e il pavimento di musaico nero circondalo da fasce bianche. La forma di questa sala è simile in tutto alla Basilica di Otricoli, l'antica Ocriculum, e di proporzioni maggiori; e la direi anche Basilica se non vi si opponesse il sito e la qualità degli edifizi vicini. Proporrei dunque la definizione di Oecus aegyptius che s'accorda ugualmente con quel che scrive Vitruvio tanto più che il portico superiore vi doveva necessariamente stare, perchè chiusa com'è la sala in quasi tutti i lati da altre fabbriche, non poteva aver lume che dall'alto, fra mezzo al secondo ordine delle colonne.

Più in su, di fianco alla piazza seguono tre sale, una maggiore nel mezzo col pavimento di marmo (n. 50), che essendo lunga un terzo più della larghezza, riscontra appunto con le proporzioni dell'ephebeum; e due minori nei lati, una delle quali (n. 53) aveva il pavimento e le mura incrostate di marmi, che veri similmente si direbbero corycaeum e conisterium 2). Nel canto destro di quella col n. 53 è una edicola rivolta dall' opposta parte con una nicchia nel mezzo che ha tutta l'aria di un sacellum. Se si può affermare che la gran piazza sia palaestra, conchiuderei che le cinque sale finora descritte sono i suoi consueti accessorii.

L'altro edifizio che imbocca nella piazza per un breve corridoio è costituito da una lunga fila di quindici stanze terrene, quasi tutte della medesima grandezza con altrettante nel piano superiore a cui si entrava per un andito pensile, moenianum, del quale non si è trovata o avvertita la scala. Le quali stanze nella massima parte per la situazione degli usci e per quel che ci era dentro (vasi d'ogni maniera, piedi di mobili, strigili, specchi, calamai, un sigillo con le lettere MPC (n. 43), lucerne coi loro tripodi e candelabri, e fino un lampanino da notte, lucerna cubicularia, con altri arnesi domestici) non potevano essere che cubicula o più propriamente cellae.

Innanzi ad esse è una corte e nel lato opposto, prima alcune stanze, poi una taberna (n. 20) col suo bancone di fabbrica, indi una concamerata sudatio (n. 23) preceduta forse dall' apodyterium e dal tepidarium (n. 22 e 22), simili a quelli della casa di Diomede a Pompei e col muricciolo da sedere nel tepidarium; indi una gran cucina (n. 27) con l'hypocausis per la contigua stufa e due cellarii a destra e a manca dell'entrata. Più in là per un grazioso vestibulo a mezzo cerchio con due colonne davanti si passa in un cortile tetrastilo (n. 31) accanto alla culina con in mezzo un viridarium e in testa un sacrarium (n. 28) dov'era il pavimento di musaico, l'altare con una nicchia e le mura dipinte con baccanti, putti, capre ed altre figure. Dal disegno non apparisce triclinium nè sella, nè che la corte abbia avuta altra uscita fuori di quella che mette alla piazza.

Questo secondo edifizio, abitato senza dubbio da molto maggior numero di gente che non si può presupporre in una famiglia, non ha forma nè disposizione, per quanto io ne’ intenda, nè di casa nè di villa; nè si potrebbe ragionevolmente attribuirgli l'una o l'altra qualità, stando a quel modo collegato con un altro edifizio certamente non di uso privato. Quando altro non sovvenisse, tra le più plausibili interpetrazioni porrei quelle dell'hospitium e del valetudinarium, inclinando un poco più a quest'ultima per le ragioni dette innanzi.

Vedi Ruggiero M., 1881. Degli scavi di Stabia dal 1749 al 1782, Naples, pp. XII-XIV.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. 1775-8 plan of western part of the villa by Francesco La Vega.

See Ruggiero M., 1881. Degli scavi di Stabia dal 1749 al 1782, Naples, Tav. VII.

Excavations were re-commenced between December 1775 and January 1778, west of the area previously explored and in the Girace estate.

A large rectangular court was excavated, around which to the south were 15 rooms on an upper terrace, of similar size and features.

To the west were four rooms (57) one of which was a square room at right angles.

To the east were three irregular shaped rooms (34) most likely adapted to surrounding pre-existing structures.

On the north side was a baths complex, with an apodyterium or vestibule (22), a calidarium with illustrated mosaic floor (23) connected, as was common, to the large kitchen (27) which was in turn accessed by vestibule (32b).

To the east of the baths complex was a large exedra with a portico which led to an atrium (31) whose back walls opened onto a lararium (28).

The east of the atrium led to a large square court with a semi-circular exedra (33) on its east side.

The exedra led to another baths area (39) already in a state of collapse when found and is probably the area west of room 23 and south of room 24 on the Weber plan.

See Sodo A. M., 2004. In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite. Castellammare: Nicola Longobardi, p. 63.

According to Kockel (1985), little is known about Villa del Pastore complex which lies between Varano and the Villa San Marco.

Already explored by C. Weber, and F. la Vega in the 18th century it was excavated and measured, was again worked upon in the 1960s.

Some rooms and part of the gardens were temporarily uncovered but are again buried.

Two finds are particularly worth mentioning: a large marble Bowl with acanthus leaves around the base from the 1st century v. CHR. and the statuette of a shepherd, which gave the Villa its name.

See Kockel V., 1985. Funde und Forschungen in den Vesuvstädten 1: Archäologischer Anzeiger, Heft 3. 1985, p. 529ff.

The Bourbons had explored many more rooms in the villa, including a row of 15 cubicula that led them to believe that this might be a hospitium, or a sanatorium (valetudinarium).

A taberna with a counter and a very large bath are also shown as part of this complex on the plan.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1979. The Gardens of Pompeii. New York: Caratzas, p. 333, fig 534.

According to Jashemski, [1968] Dr Soprano took us to see the new excavations of two villas.

In the Villa of Ariadne, overlooking the sea, a series of rooms, some with fine wall paintings, had been excavated.

The second villa, the Villa del Pastore, gets its name from the statue of a shepherd, clothed in a rough skin, carrying a young goat on his shoulders, a hare in his right hand and, slipped over his left arm, a basket filled with fruit and grain. The statue, still showing traces of the original colours with which it was painted, was uncovered in a garden, near a large rectangular pool in the villa. A beautiful two-handled marble fountain basin had been found the previous year. Much less had been excavated at this villa.

See Jashemski W. F., 2014. Discovering the Gardens of Pompeii: The Memoirs of a Garden Archaeologist 1955 – 2004, p. 161.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. General plan of the villa by P. Miniero after D. Camardo.

Plan of the Villa del Pastore with conventional indication of the rooms.

Includes Tav. III, VII and part of V, of Ruggiero (1881) and the plan of the SANP archive made in the late 1960s.

Pianta della Villa del Pastore con indicazione convenzionale degli ambienti.

Comprende le Tavv. III, VII e parte di V del Ruggiero (1881) e la pianta dell’archivio SANP realizzata alla fine degli anni Sessanta del Novecento.

Da Domenico Camardo, La Villa di Arianna a Stabia, in Stabiae, dai Borbone alle ultime scoperte, a cura di D. Camardo, A. Ferrara, Castellamare di Stabia 2001, pp. 75-84.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. General plan of the villa, 2004.

The villa is a vast complex of some 19,000 square metres, a joining of two architectural nuclei on two different axes, one east to west and the other north-east to south-west.

There are some slight inconsistencies between the Weber and La Vega plans regarding the orientation of the buildings to the west of the large garden, but the two plans largely coincide.

See Sodo A. M., 2004. In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite. Castellammare: Nicola Longobardi, pp. 63-4.

According to Jashemski,

This villa was explored by means of tunnels in the 18th century and a portion of the villa (based on Weber’s plan) began excavation in 1964.

A large courtyard or palaestra (143m by 39m), with a semi-circular exedra was on the south side.

On the north side was a cryptoporticus with 32 windows, with a portico above, parallel to the ridge of Varano.

This villa is today covered by modern construction.

The complex of rooms to the west on a different axis (and known only from La Vega’s plan) indicates that two villas had been joined.

The great size of the complex, which includes many cubicula, a caupona, bath complex and large latrine, suggests that the complex in its last period was not so much a private villa as a hospitium or valetudinarium.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas, p.311-2.

1: Five marble steps.

2: Room with the walls painted light red, dark red, white, light blue, with green stripes.

3: Seven marble steps leading to room 4

4: Long colonnade situated lower down on the edge of the brow.

5: Widowed cryptoporticus, some 145 metres long facing the colonnade (4) but at a higher level.

6: Natatio or swimming pool next to semi-circular south wall. The modern-day excavations ended with the uncovering of a perimeter wall 35m long, 0.4m thick and 1.5 to 2.4m high. This progressed irregularly to the south-west of the semi-circular portion, left undiscovered by the Bourbon excavators.

7: Two narrow brick walls adorned with two half columns, frescoed in red and white, formed the access to a large room (7) 14m long and 10m wide, perhaps a tablinum (room 50 on La Vega’s plan). Nearby a small square nymphaeum was found, measuring 2.8m, consisting of a low podium with traces of tiny lead pipes fanning out towards the tablinum, with the magnificent marble labrum (inv. no. 63894) at the centre.

A large rectangular court was excavated, around which to the south were 15 rooms on an upper terrace, of similar size and features.

To the east of the baths complex was a large exedra with a portico which led to an atrium (31)

20: Room on the north side of the large rectangular court.

21: Corridor?

22: Baths area apodyterium or vestibule, on north side of large rectangular court.

23: Baths area calidarium with illustrated mosaic floor and connecting to kitchen.

24: room backing on to kitchen 27.

26: Room backing on to room 22.

27: Large kitchen.

28: Lararium.

29: Room backing on to lararium 28.

30: Corridor?

31: Atrium whose back walls opened onto a lararium (28).

32: Rooms on the north side of the large rectangular courtyard including the vestibule leading to kitchen 27.

33: Large square court with semi-circular exedra on the east side.

34: Three irregular shaped rooms most likely adapted to surrounding pre-existing structures.

35: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

36: Room on the north side of the large rectangular court.

37: Room on the north side of the large rectangular court.

38: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

39: Another baths area already in a state of collapse when found and is probably the area west of room 23 and south of room 24 on the Weber plan.

40: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

41: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

42: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

43: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

44: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

45: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

46: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

47: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

48: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

49: One of 15 similar sized and featured rooms on the south side of the large rectangular court on an upper terrace.

50: Tablinum?

51: Portico 10.4m long by 2.3m wide with a black and white mosaic floor.

52: Area in opus latericium (brickwork) with in its north wall a small semi-circular niche frescoed in blue. The floor was missing; the mosaic lining having been removed by the 18th century excavators.

53: Room on south side of portico 51.

54: Area on south wall of garden, east of room 53.

55: Area surrounding tablinum 50.

56: Portico in front of tablinum 50.

57: Four rooms to the west of the large rectangular court, one of which was a square room at right angles.

Exedra: exedra to east of baths complex with portico leading to atrium 31.

Large court: large rectangular court at west end of complex, excavated by La Vega.

Garden: Wide rectangular garden running east – west, lined on the south side by a wall with a semi-circular portion at its centre measuring 38 metres in diameter, where the statue of the shepherd that gave the villa its name was found on 19th September 1967.

South wall: 122 metres long in brick and bicolour opus reticulatum, with yellow square tufa blocks and brown to red lava. It ended with upturned arches with a diameter of 1.7metres.

Excavation and site photos

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. 1980s photo of the sorry state of site covered in rubbish and buildings.

Photo courtesy of Tina Lepri, Il Giornale dell'Arte numero 302, ottobre 2010.

See http://www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/articoli/2010/10/104565.html

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. Late 1960s? Impluvium, area 31? Nymphaeum, area 7? Photo courtesy Comitato per gli Scavi di Stabia.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. 1980s? Wall with inverted arch pattern. Photo courtesy Comitato per gli Scavi di Stabia.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. 1960s? South wall? Wall with inverted arch pattern. Photo courtesy Comitato per gli Scavi di Stabia.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. 1968. Looking south-east. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

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Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. 1968, Excavations in progress. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

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Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. 1968? Villa under excavation. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

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Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. 1968.

Villa under excavation. The inverted arches that are a feature of this villa can be seen. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

Jmis0105

Finds

Castellamare di Stabia, Villa del Pastore. Statue of the shepherd.

According to Kockel, he is dressed in a belted Fellexomis (a form of Greek tunic).

He carries a young goat on his shoulders, in his right hand he holds a hare.

He holds a basket with fruit and carries a backpack with a loaf of bread sticking out.

Garment, fruits and hair were coloured, but already are heavily faded.

See Kockel V., 1985. Funde und Forschungen in den Vesuvstädten 1: Archäologischer Anzeiger, Heft 3. 1985, p. 529ff, Abb. 11. 18. 23 Nr. 100.

Photo Wikimedia Commons, courtesy user Mentnafunangann..

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

Castellamare di Stabia, Villa del Pastore. 1978. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.  

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

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Castellamare di Stabia, Villa del Pastore. 1968. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

J68f1872

According to Wilhelmina, at Stabia in the Villa del Pastore in 1967, a statue of a shepherd was uncovered, clothed in a rough skin, carrying a young goat on his shoulders, a hare in his right hand, and slipped over his left arm, a basket filled with fruit and grain.

The statue still showing traces of its original colours with which it had been painted, was uncovered in a garden, near a large rectangular pool located in front of the semi-circular exedra on the south in the villa.

A beautiful two handled marble fountain basin had been found the previous year.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas, pp. 311-2.

Castellamare di Stabia, Villa del Pastore. 1968? Rear of the statue of the shepherd.

According to Kockel, He carries a backpack with a loaf of bread sticking out.

See Kockel V., 1985. Funde und Forschungen in den Vesuvstädten 1: Archäologischer Anzeiger, Heft 3. 1985, p. 529ff, Abb. 11. 18. 23 Nr. 100.

DAIR 68.1051. Photo © Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Rom, Arkiv.

See http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/marbilder/4146661

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. Information board at Quisisana. Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. Garden. statue of the shepherd.

Stabia Antiquarium. Inventory number 63908.

Photo courtesy of Margaret Hicks.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. Garden.

Libero D’Orsi and statue. Information board on display at Quisisana.

Photo courtesy of Margaret Hicks.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore.

Garden. Rear of statue of shepherd showing tree stump. Photo courtesy of Margaret Hicks.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore.

 Garden. Front of statue of shepherd. Photo courtesy of Margaret Hicks.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore.

Garden. Statue of the shepherd. Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore.

Garden. Statue of the shepherd side view showing backpack and basket of fruit.

Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore.

Garden. Statue rear view showing backpack with loaf of bread protruding.

Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore.

Garden. Shepherd with goat on his shoulders. Stabia Antiquarium. Inventory number 63908. Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. Garden. Face of shepherd. Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. Garden. Goat on shepherd’s shoulders. Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. Garden. Detail of goat on shepherd’s shoulders. Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore. Garden. Statue of a shepherd clothed in a rough skin, carrying a young goat on his shoulders.

He has a hare in his right hand, and slipped over his left arm, a basket filled with fruit and grain. Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Castellamare di Stabia, Villa del Pastore. Found in 1966. Two handled labrum made of Parian marble.

According to Kockel, particularly worth mentioning was a large marble Bowl with acanthus leaves around the base, from the 1st century v. CHR.

See Kockel V., 1985. Funde und Forschungen in den Vesuvstädten 1: Archäologischer Anzeiger, Heft 3. 1985, p. 531.

According to Jashemski, this was a two handled fountain basin, found in 1966, made of Parian marble and its base was sculpted with magnificent leaves.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1979. The Gardens of Pompeii. New York: Caratzas, p. 333, fig 534.

A similar base from Pompeii was shown by Spinazzola in 1928.

See Spinazzola V. 1928. Le arti decorative in Pompei e nel Museo Nazionale di Napoli. Milano: Bestetti e Tumminelli, Tav. 41.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore.

Labrum found in the garden. Stabia Antiquarium. Inventory number 63849. Photo courtesy of Margaret Hicks.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore.

Labrum found in the garden. Stabia Antiquarium. Inventory number 63849. Photo courtesy of Donna Dollings.

Stabiae, Villa del Pastore.

Quisisana information board for labrum found in the garden.

Photo courtesy of Margaret Hicks.