House of the Vettii

The House of the Vettii is a domus located in the Roman town Pompeii, which was preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

[1] Its careful excavation[2] has preserved almost all of the wall frescos, which were completed following the earthquake of 62 AD, in the manner art historians term the Pompeiian Fourth Style.

A kitchen is also located near the small atrium along with a cubiculum meant to house the cook and an impluvium, which was designed to catch rainwater from an opening in the roof.

Lastly, the unrealistically thin columns supporting the upper ring of the wall frescoes is taken from the Third style.

[14] The paintings combine to create a theme of divine reward and punishment, one particularly showing off the power of Jupiter (Zeus) and his sons as the enforcers of world order.

After Ixion attempts to seduce her, Zeus creates the cloud goddess Nephele in the image of Hera.

In this scene, Ixion is bound to the wheel and Hermes stands in the forefront, identifiable by his winged sandals and caduceus.

[16] The mythological scene, Daedalus and Pasiphae is located on the north wall of the same triclinium where the Punishment of Ixion is depicted.

Daedalus and his son Icarus were punished through imprisonment by King Minos for his assistance, leading into the famous myth of a winged escape from Crete.

[17] The final mythological scene in the north triclinium is Dionysus discovering Ariadne on the south wall.

She wears gold armlets and anklets, tiny blue flowers in her hair, and a yellow mantle with a light-blue border.

He holds a branch over Ariadne to sprinkle water from a small gold dish in his left hand, inducing sleep.

Hypnos is winged and garbed in a green undergarment with long sleeves, a light-blue band around his head, and brown boots with a gold lion on the upper edge.

[19] The Death of Pentheus scene is located in the southern triclinium, surrounding the large peristyle, and painted on the east wall.

[21] The final mythological scene in the southern triclinium is the Infant Herakles strangling the snakes, located on the north wall.

[22] The mythological scene, Wrestling match between Pan and Eros is located in the south-east triclinium, surrounding the large atrium, on the south wall.

Dionysus wears only a dark-red mantle covering his legs, high brown boots, and ivy leaves in his hair.

Ariadne wears a long white garment beneath a light-blue mantle with her breasts and right shoulder and arm exposed.

On the right side of the scene Silenus holds a pine branch in his left hand and extends his right arm with his palm facing the viewer and Pan and Eros.

After learning that Achilles would die during the Trojan War, his mother, Thetis, sent him to live on the island of Skyros.

She is in the nude except for yellow shoes, gold anklets, and a dark grey mantle that covers her legs.

[25] The only surviving mythological scene in the triclinium next to the small peristyle is Herakles and Auge, painted on south wall.

This scene depicts the myth of the rape of Auge, who was the daughter of the King of Taega and the priestess of Athena, by a drunken Herakles.

Leander wished to be with his lover so he swam the strait each night, guided by torches Hero placed in a tower on the beach.

Hero leans out of a window of the tower wearing a yellow garment and holding in her right hand, a torch for Leander.

Additionally, a ring was found with the initials A. V. C.[29] Further evidence supports the identification of the owners through wax tablets and notices pasted on the outside of the house.

Other proofs of Conviva's position in Roman society, and incidentally his ownership of the House of the Vettii, are found in the form of graffiti.

On the southern facade of the house, he is identified as an Augustalis, a type of priest, which is mirrored in fragments of a seal ring that was abbreviated with 'Aug' following his name.

Scholars, however, have noted that it cannot be stated with certainty that the Vettii are the owners, despite most believing that they were, due to the limited epigraphical (engraved) evidence.

This belief is rooted in the cognomina, or third given name, Conviva and Restitutus being associated with servitude as well as the richness of the decorations in the House of the Vettii.