VI.8.5 Pompeii. Casa del Poeta Tragico or House of the Tragic Poet.

Excavated 1824. Linked to VI.8.3.

Part 5                                                                         Part 1

 

Part 2      Part 3      Part 4      VI.8.3 and VI.8.5 Room Plan (Opens in a separate window)

 

VI.8.5 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, east wall of tablinum.

Alcestis and Admetus.

 

Mau identifies a painting, found in the tablinum, showing the delivery to Admetus of the oracle which declared that he must die unless some one should voluntarily meet death in his place. On one side sits Admetus, with his devoted queen Alcestis. Opposite them is the messenger who is reading the oracle from a roll of papyrus.

See Mau, A., 1907, translated by Kelsey F. W. Pompeii: Its Life and Art. New York: Macmillan. (p. 313-4).

According to Nappo the painting was from the east wall of the tablinum.

See Nappo, S., 1998. Pompeii: Guide to the lost City. London: Weidenfield and Nicolson. (p. 143).

 

VI.8.5 Pompeii. Found 22^nd January 1825 in the tablinum.

Wall painting of Alcestis and Admetus.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9026.

Helbig attributed this picture to the Casa del Poeta and described the picture.

Admetus has a dark robe over his knees with his sword resting on his leg, and he is pointing with his right hand.

Alcestis is dressed in a yellow chiton with bright green mantle.

Behind green drapery are the parents of Admetus.

Apollo, with his bow and quiver sits behind a wall or trellis with a muse.

See Helbig, W., 1868. Wandgemälde der vom Vesuv verschütteten Städte Campaniens. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel. (1158, p. 240-1).

 

Photograph courtesy of André Durand, Idea Fine Art.

 

 

This is also the picture referred to by Gell in his book written only a few years after the house was excavated.

He attributed it to the tablinum of the House of the Tragic Poet but described it as the image of a poet reading that gave the house its name.

See Gell, W, 1837. Pompeiana. London: Lewis A. Lewis. (Ch. VIII, T. XLIV).

 

Wall painting of Alcestis and Admetus. Found in VI.8.3.  

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9027.

Courtesy of Current Archaeology, 2001.

Some sources say the picture shown here is from VI.8.3 and some say it is from Herculaneum.

Richardson identified this as from the Basilica at Herculaneum.

Richardson, L., 2000. A Catalog of Identifiable Figure Painters of Ancient Pompeii, Herculaneum. Baltimore: John Hopkins. (p. 90).

De Carolis identified this with a question mark as “Casa del Poeta Tragico (?)”.

See de Carolis, E., 2001. Gods and Heroes in Pompeii. Los Angeles: Getty Museum. (p. 49).

Fiorelli only identified one picture of Alcestis and Admetus.

 

VI.8.5 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, mosaic floor in tablinum.

 

According to Mau this is a mosaic of an actor making preparations for the stage and was found in the floor of the tablinum.

The label in the museum says it was found in the tablinum of VI.8.3.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9986.

See Mau, A., 1907, translated by Kelsey F. W. Pompeii: Its Life and Art. New York: Macmillan. (p. 314)

 

VI.8.5 Pompeii. 1892. Tablinum and corridor to peristyle. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

 

VI.8.5 Pompeii. Old postcard, date unknown. Looking across the tablinum to the peristyle.

Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

 

 

 

 

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