Herculaneum IV.8. Casa del Papiro dipinto or House with the painted papyrus roll, with stairs to rooms above at IV.9
According to Maiuri, this house had a gallery overhanging the street pavement, and a podium (bench) between the two entrances.
The house has a long, narrow ground plan, without an atrium in the centre but with a simple light-well at the end.
The fauces (entrance corridor) which lie to one side goes across the whole house to the rear, and the different rooms open onto it along it.
The last spacious room at the rear had a beautiful motif in the IV style painted on the upper part of the wall, of draped curtains disclosing an architectural view.
See Maiuri, Amedeo, (1977). Herculaneum. 7th English ed, of Guide books to the Museums Galleries and Monuments of Italy, No.53, (p.31).
Wallace-Hadrill wrote that this house had a long passageway leading to a small light-well and 6 rooms. Style III/IV decorations in one room and courtyard (painting of papyrus).
Pesando and Guidobaldi described this house as preserving the dimensions of a pre-roman dwelling with a long and narrow plan of rooms placed only along the north side and opening onto the long corridor. This house also had rooms on the upper floor above it, reached by the steps at IV.9, probably above rooms 1 – 5 of the lower floor.
The front of the house was occupied by the service rooms, 1) small room divided with a wooden screen, by the steps to the upper floor, the kitchen with neighbouring latrine (2), and the cupboard/storeroom (3) in whose north-west corner lies the channel for the discharge pipe for the latrine above on the upper floor.
The rear of the house contained the better rooms, cubiculum 4, the receiving room 6, by not having an atrium, light and air was received from the courtyard at 5 with a cocciopesto floor, and a hunt scene on the rear wall, there is also a wide square cistern mouth in the south-west corner.
Above the inside of the opening that gave access to the courtyard 5 and to the room 6, there was a fresco, now lost, that gave the conventional name to this house, here was shown a roll of papyrus (volumen) with the name in Greek of Eutychos and the typical elements of writing instruments, the inkwell and pen.
On the south wall of the long corridor, protected by a sheet of glass, was a long graffito on red stucco, where reference is made to the Guild of Herculaneum shippers, and a less clear relationship with the great port of Pozzuoli.
See Pesando, F. and Guidobaldi, M.P. (2006). Pompei, Oplontis, Ercolano, Stabiae. Editori Laterza, (p.335-6)
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Entrance doorway on east side of Cardo IV Inferiore.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Looking east along entrance corridor.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Doorways to two rooms (1 and 2) on north side of entrance doorway.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 1, on north side of entrance doorway.
In the centre of the photo is the doorway at IV.9 which would have been stairs leading to an upper floor.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 1, looking towards west wall with window onto Cardo IV Inferiore.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 1 on north side of entrance doorway, looking towards north-west corner.
IV.8 Herculaneum, October 2015.
Room 1, on north side of entrance doorway. Looking towards north wall. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 1 on north side of entrance doorway, looking towards north-east corner.
IV.8 Herculaneum, October 2012.
Room 1, looking towards east wall, and doorway to entrance corridor. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 2, kitchen and latrine, looking north into second area, on north side of entrance doorway.
This was a type of vestibule leading to the kitchen and latrine, with the hearth in a corner and the latrine under the stairs.
Large tiles form the floor.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 2, looking north.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 2, looking towards north wall.
In the centre of the photo is the doorway leading to the latrine, according to Maiuri on the north wall, traces were still recognisable of a painted serpent.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 2, north-east corner of second area.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 2, hearth or bench leaning against east wall.
IV.8 Herculaneum, October 2015.
Looking west into latrine, which would have been under the stairs, entered at IV.9. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015.
Room 2, latrine, under stairs at IV. 9, leading west from kitchen or courtyard.
IV.9 from IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010.
Room 2, latrine under steps to upper floor from separate entrance doorway, looking west.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 2, latrine under steps to upper floor.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 2, looking west towards latrine.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2017.
Looking east along corridor. Photo
courtesy of Klaus Heese.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Corridor, leading east.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Looking north-east across rooms.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 3, looking towards north wall, and with separate area or small room, on right.
According to Pesando and Guidobaldi,
in the north-west corner would have been the channel for the discharge pipe from the latrine above on the upper floor.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 3, looking towards north-east corner, and wall of small room/area.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 3, looking towards north-east corner, and wall of small room/area.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 3, looking towards south-east corner into small room/area.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Looking east along corridor from near room with small area attached.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. On the left, the doorway into room 4, the second room on north side of corridor.
The other doorway leads to the room at rear and the courtyard area.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 4, looking towards doorway from corridor, in south wall.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 4, doorway threshold into second room on north side of corridor.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 4.
Looking towards remains of painted zoccolo in south-west corner of second room on north side of corridor.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010.Room 4, painted zoccolo on south wall.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 4, detail of painted zoccolo from south wall.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 4, detail of painted zoccolo.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 4, looking towards west wall.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 4, looking towards north wall.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 4, niche in north wall.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 4, looking towards north wall, with window in east wall, on right.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 4, east wall.
IV.8 Herculaneum, September 2015. Room 4, looking through window in east wall across courtyard 5.
IV.8 Herculaneum, May 2010. Room 4, looking through window in east wall across courtyard 5.
IV.8 Herculaneum, 1964. Room 4, into room 5.
Looking through window in east wall across courtyard towards north-east corner. 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-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
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