House of the Vettii

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Paintings in the Ixion room
In Pompeii one of the most famous of the luxurious residences (domus) is the so-called House of
the Vettii, preserved like the rest of the Roman city by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. The
house is named for its owners, two successful freedmen: Aulus Vettius Conviva, an Augustalis,
and Aulus Vettius Restitutus.
[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."
Contents
1 Plan
2 Notes
3 References
4 See also
5 Further reading
Plan

Reconstruction of the peristyle (without fresco decor), made for an exhibition in the Boboli
Gardens, 2007
The House of the Vettii is located on a back street, opposite a bar. The house is built round two
compluviums, centers open to the sky, a dim atrium into which a visitor would pass, coming
from a small dark vestibule that led from the street entrance,
[3]
and beyondperpendicular to the
entrance axisa daylit peristyle of fluted Doric columns surrounded on all sides by a richly
frescoed portico, with the more formal spaces opening onto it. Servants' quarters are to one side
off the atrium, arranged round a small atrium of their own. The major fresco decorations enliven
the peristyle and its living spaces (oeci) and the triclinium or dining hall.
In the entrance foyer the prosperous and almost life-size image of Priapus weighs his erection
which protrudes from beneath his tunic against a bag overflowing with coins in a set of scales
that he holds. Throughout the house, the decor is unified by the black backgrounds of its large
frescoed panels, in "Pompeiian" red and yellow framing, with fanciful architectural surrounds.
Also throughout the house were images of hermaphrodites with the intention to ward off the Evil
Eye of envy from those who entered the home. In one oecus, a frieze at sitting height, in
monochrome against black grounds, show putti and infant psyches engaged in various trades,
wine-making, goldsmithing or minting coins, perfume-pressing and similar occupations. The
most richly-decorated room is a virtual picture gallery, with trompe l'oeil views of architecture.


Mural of a flying figure in the House of the Vettii. Photograph taken circa 1900, before modern
restoration.
The peristyle was laid out symmetrically for an elaborate water display. It had basins and
fountains where carved heads spat water into basins, and other sculpture, both marble ones of
Bacchus and satyrs and Paris carrying a lamb
[4]
and three bronzes of cupids, each holding a
goose and a bunch of grapes. The statues were connected to lead piping and spouted water. There
are 14 jets of water.
Notes
1. Their identity was preserved in campaign-slogan graffiti on the street front of the house.
Two inscribed signet rings were also found.
2. The House of the Vettii was not one of the eighteenth-century discoveries, which were
rifled for their museum-worthy objects. It was excavated between September 1894 and
January 1896. There is evidence that the house was disturbed, perhaps looted, shortly
after the eruption.
3. Around the corner there is a second entrance, which led to a shop that communicated
with the rest of the house through a narrow passage.
4. This subject is often identified as a Christ
References
Butterworth, Alex and Ray Laurence. Pompeii: The Living City. New York, St. Martin's
Press, 2005.
(Stoa.org) On-line companion to Penelope Mary Allison, Pompeian Households: House
of the Vettii
John R. Clarke, Andrew Otwell, David Richard, Denise Ketcham, Heather Matthews
"The House of the Vettii at Pompeii: An Interactive Exploration of Roman Art in the
Domestic Sphere" (currently inactive)