Herculaneum. Villa dei Papiri or Villa of the Papyri or Villa dei Pisoni.

Part 8. Frescoes and mosaics

The complex and atrium      Lower levels      Reconstructions, the Getty Villa and the Jashemskis      Monumental structure      Baths      House of the Dionysiac Reliefs and pavilion      Sculptures      Frescoes      Mosaics      Plan

On this page  Moormann’s analysis      The Frescoes      Missing Frescoes      Not yet photographed      The full list      Mosaics

Frescoes

Moormann’s analysis

According to Moormann,

“In 1984 I was able to individuate 24 fragments of paintings cut out during the campaigns of Karl Weber in the 1750s throughout the villa complex and these could be attributed to two phases of the villa: the middle of the 1st century BC and the later decades of the 1st century AD, that means to the mid Second Style and to the Fourth Style. The original location of the various fragments was partly reconstructed on the basis of Weber’s fantastic documentation, conveniently collected by Comparetti and De Petra in 1882. When we now enter the villa, we see that the 18th-century excavators stripped quite a lot, so that bare walls were left. I, first, want to take up some of the conclusions drawn in the 1984 paper, and then pass to the murals which can be studied nowadays in the part excavated by Antonio De Simone in the 1990s.

Fourth Style

As to the fragments of the Fourth Style, it must be said that they are small and rather insignificant, showing small figural motifs cut out of larger wall systems that cannot be reconstructed at all. I think that their original location might have been one of the porticos of the small and/or big peristyle, where a paratactic scheme of panels would do well. The small goat could have adorned a dado, whereas the putto might be reset as a vignette into a panel decoration. The small landscapes, for instance, seem to have formed vignettes on panels, but we also know them as adornments in aediculae in upper zones of the walls or in small friezes between two horizontal layers of the wall systems. They are sketchy, what does not mean that their quality is poor, but it cannot be established whether they belong to high-quality wall decorations. We may recall the decorations in the House of the Dioscuri or the House of the Vettii at Pompeii or the Villa of San Marco at Stabiae with similar decoration systems.

It is sad that I am not able – like none of the painting experts would be – to propose a precise chronology nor can I ascribe them to determinate rooms. The first question is more important, as we have the hypothesis that the villa was out of use around AD 79, when the book scrolls, to mention one of the capital finds only, were collected unsystematically on scaffoldings and in crates in a room not far from the atrium and some of the garden statues were standing under the portico. Apparently, there were reconstruction works going on, like we know from other villas in the Vesuvius area, e.g. the Villa A, so-called of Poppaea at Oplontis. Some new Fourth-Style paintings were discovered in the so-called basis villae. I return to them shortly.

Second Style

As far as I could deduce from the excavation reports, the fragments found in the Villa of the Papyri belonging to the Second Style, stem from the atrium and the adjacent rooms. Here we find an interesting challenge in confronting the old reconstructions to the modern finds. There are two substantial, large panels, well known and, as the Italians say, pubblicatissimi. One shows a monochrome landscape, the other has a marble veneer imitation against which are hanging three geese and lying two deer. As to the landscape, I made a reconstruction of a panel decoration in which a meander was included, found in the villa and partly reused in the panel with the animals. This would form a series of imitations of reliefs like those in the Villa of Oplontis or on the fragment shown here in the Naples Museum. Since this very part of the villa has been reopened during De Simone’s excavations, it is possible to assess my reconstruction. So, the first observation is that the landscape monochrome does not stem from the atrium itself. This will have its consequence for the attribution of all Second-Style fragments.

The right ala shows on the eastern side wall the higher part of the middle zone, with a panel decoration mainly in red. Columns with the surface showing the structure of a palm tree, separate the central panel from the lateral ones. No precise cuttings due to the Bourbon activities can be observed. On top, the lower parts of blue blocks can be observed. There are two features that enable us to ascribe the monochrome landscape to this room: the dark-red band with the flower wreath and the moulding in light red-orange next to it on the wall are also present on the landscape in Naples. And of course, there is the landscape motif itself, as we see on the next image.

As to the shrubby columns, I show the right wall of the megalography from Terzigno, also dating to the middle of the first century BC. Since the red band is also featuring on the fragment with the highly suggestive meander, on which a tiny branch stands in a square angle, I placed it on top of the landscape in my reconstruction. However. The colour of the tiny band is yellow instead of white and it must now be excluded from the ala system. The yellow colour on the landscape in Naples is absent on all the walls in the villa itself, but this is no strange oddity: the yellow is a discoloration caused by the hot temperature of the volcanic material that filled the room. In my article I had said the opposite, standing on remarks by Pompeianisti like Paul Herrmann and Agnes Allroggen-Bedel, but here the find of the original walls is conclusive. I show you, as an example, the wall in the open-air triclinium of the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, where one panel with the garden depictions has a yellow background, the other a red one, the red being the original surface. Apparently, the hottest stuff arrived in the lower and central sections and afflicted the murals in those spots especially.

When we come to a relocation of the landscape, the following, first, suggestion can be done. In sum we can reconstruct a system of panels in both alae. The long walls had three reliefs with landscapes, the small ones two, if we do not take into account the doors and/or windows. Unfortunately, as to the lower and upper zones too little data are available. I was not able to establish the exact spot where the paintings with the large still lives had been cut out. As a system, it does not differ from the panel paintings with the landscapes. The animals are hanging from red orthostats, whereas three fragments, including this big piece, have animals tied at their legs lying on a green bench-like structure. This ‘bench’ is likely to be interpreted as the always green podium that we already saw in the Terzigno painting and that features in many other paintings as well. It suggests a protruding dado on which columns could be placed, like those we saw on the ala paintings ad like those surrounding a jutting aedicula on the famous fragment in Naples from the Insula Occidentalis at Pompeii, that I also show as a parallel for the large still lives. As you see, the deer lie on a slab of slate or a slate-like stone that rests on a red under layer, the top side of the dado. The aedicula of the Insula Occidentalis also has a single slab, now of fake red porphyry that covers the green top layer of the podium.

Our fragment contains a small part of a meander and now I believe that this indeed belonged to the system. As I said, the colour of the floral band is yellow. I show it with the addition made by the restorers at Portici – has green vertical borders and cannot be re-pieced in the way of the fragment at Naples. These borders are also present on our ala paintings. The fragment has a width of 105 cm and a height of 119 cm, that with the landscape measures 67 by 87 cm. The height of the still life panel is almost complete, except for the upper frame. shows a rather insignificant element: a panther’ s head serving as an appliqué. The excavators found fake doors, furnished with a doorstep in marble! We must assume the presence of fake doors in painting, for we which we know real examples.

I turn back a moment to the still life that might belong to a system like that of the Insula Occidentalis. In some more rooms are tiny fragments. I want to show one peculiar find, viz. a system with a large

almost nude woman standing in front of a red slab. She wears a mantle blown by the wind and sports a green branch in her right hand. The size of almost one metre is an indication to see here a fragment of a megalography. I refer again to the Terzigno megalography.

Fourth Style

Finally, the Fourth Style. It was a great surprise to see that the pilasters of the portico in front of these rooms are adorned with a fantastic marble veneer. The way of representation is typical for the Fourth Style. Walking around Herculaneum, I did not find other instances, but saw some real marble revetments, e.g. in the Casa del rilievo di Telefo. It is a decoration custom introduced according to Pliny in the era of Claudius, but Nero set a trend with his Golden House. It is likely that the cases in Pompeii and Herculaneum were applied after Nero’s death in AD 68. That might be a chronological indication for the fourth style n our complex.

As to the fourth style in the Basis villae, I think that it is a typical example of Herculaneum Fourth Style. It has been observed by various scholars, but not worked out in detail, that the fourth style in Herculaneum differs considerably from that in Pompeii. In the first place, there are much less figural scenes and, if they are present, they are huge or small! There seems to exist a tendency for monochrome panels in the central zone and fantastic upper zones, often in different colours, e.g. in the House of the Tuscan Colonnade. Here we might refer to the House of the Black Saloon and a house in front of the palaestra, the latter especially because of the great contrast between the heavily red main zone and eerie upper zone.

As a conclusion, something can be learnt: the owners appreciated all time long the Second Style and kept it well preserved for almost 140 years. The Fourth Style seems to stem from the last decade and has a precious elegance, typical for Herculaneum.”

See Moormann E. M., 2009. Pitture parietali nella Villa dei Papiri a Ercolano :Vecchi rinvenimenti e nuove scoperte, in Vesuviana. Archeologia a confronto. Atti del Convegno internazionale (Bologna, 14-16 gennaio 2008), Tavola 1.

The Frescoes

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Atrium (c). Meander fresco.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8548.

According to Esposito, the upper part of the atrium's walls was decorated with a perspective meandering frieze, of which a fragment was recovered during the eighteenth-century explorations.

The relevance of this piece to the decoration of the atrium, for a long time discussed, can now be confirmed by the discovery of a small fragment of painted plaster that exhibits a purple bottom band, next to which is painted a green band and adorned with a stylized floral element with eight petals, fielded in orange with cream white highlights.

The motive of the perspective meander is very frequent in the pavement and parietal decorations of the late Republican age. In particular it is often used as a frieze placed to crown the median area.

See Esposito D., 2010. Le pitture della Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano in La Villa Romaine de Boscoreale et ses Fresques. Édicions errance: Musée royal de Mariemont. p. 214, fig. 6.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Atrium (c). Fresco of two cocks with realistic plumage.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8753.

According to Esposito, Agnes Allroggen-Bedel has attributed to the decoration of the atrium two other fragments, which Weber placed in a different area of the villa, that of the so-called "stufa", or small room that opens to the south-east of room V, the so-called "library". In the first fragment, on a light pink background that looks very much like that of the fragment with ducks and roe deer, one sees two cocks, with the plumage rendered in a very realistic way.

See Esposito D., 2010. Le pitture della Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano in La Villa Romaine de Boscoreale et ses Fresques. édicions errance: Musée royal de Mariemont. p. 212, fig. 4.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Found 16th June 1764. Atrium (c). Fresco of several ducks hanging and two roe deer sitting.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8759.

In the upper part of the wall are four suspended ducks, with tied legs, three of which are still live, with their heads raised, the fourth, now dead, with a dangling head. On a green shelf are depicted two roe deer, legs tied with a red string.

See Esposito D., 2010. Le pitture della Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano in La Villa Romaine de Boscoreale et ses Fresques. édicions errance: Musée royal de Mariemont. p. 212, fig. 2.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of goat.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8806.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Painted plaster fresco of head of Silenus.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8821A.

See Antichità di Ercolano: Tomo Quarto: Le Pitture 4, 1765, p. 17.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Painted plaster fresco of head of Silenus. (26 x 19.5cm)

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8821A.

According to the Catalogue –

The above fresco, together with another two depicting monochrome heads floating on a yellow background have all been attributed to the Villa.

These were found between June 15^th and June 22^nd 1755.

See Catalogue (p.226-229) of exhibition entitled “Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum”, edited by Kenneth Lapatin.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of Medusa head.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8821B.

See Antichità di Ercolano: Tomo Quarto: Le Pitture 4, 1765, p. 17.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of Medusa head.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8821B.

According to the Catalogue –

The above fresco, (one of a pair of similar images) together with another two depicting monochrome heads of Gorgons floating on a yellow background, have all been attributed to the Villa.

These were found between June 15th and June 22nd, 1755.

See Catalogue (p.226-229) of exhibition entitled “Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum”, edited by Kenneth Lapatin.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Engraving by Nicola Fiorillo of heads of Silenus and Medusa, after drawings by Giovanni Elia Morghen.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number (from left to right), 8821A, 8821C, 8821B, and 8821D.

See Antichità di Ercolano: Tomo Quarto: Le Pitture 4, 1765, p.17.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of Medusa head.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8821C.

See Antichità di Ercolano: Tomo Quarto: Le Pitture 4, 1765, p. 17.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of Medusa head.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8821C.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of Medusa head.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8821D.

See Antichità di Ercolano: Tomo Quarto: Le Pitture 4, 1765, p. 17.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of Medusa head.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8821D.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum or a house in the vicinity of the Herculaneum Theatre. Fresco of head of Medusa.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8820.

According to Lapatin, three heads of beardless figures with wild hair and wings sprouting from the forehead had been attributed to this villa, but this may be an error and they may be from a house in the vicinity of the Herculaneum Theatre.

See Catalogue (p. 226, pl. 49) of exhibition entitled “Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum”, edited by Kenneth Lapatin. 

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum or a house in the vicinity of the Herculaneum Theatre.

Second fresco of head of Medusa, with wild hair and wings sprouting from the forehead.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of plaster and pigment of winged cupid with cup and baton.

Found in room l (that is L) south of the tablinum, on May 20^th 1753.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9319.

See Catalogue (p.178-179) of exhibition entitled “Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum”, edited by Kenneth Lapatin. 

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of with Architectural landscape depicting a harbour scene viewed from the ocean.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9399.

According to the Catalogue –

this plaster and pigment fresco (21 x 35 cm) was found in the so-called “Stufa” (furnace room), south-east of room V (the Library).

It was found on February 24^th 1754.

See Catalogue (p.144-45) of exhibition entitled “Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum”, edited by Kenneth Lapatin. 

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. East wall of ala (d). Monochrome landscape fresco.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9423.

According to Esposito, the observation of the remains still in situ in the two alae and of the fragments detached during the excavation of the end of the last century from the ala (d) confirm the provenance of these environments, most likely from the east wall of the ala (d) of the two fragments with monochromatic landscapes preserved at the Naples Museum.

Imitating panels of orthostats decorated with monochrome are often used in the middle of the II style walls.

The closest comparison can be established with the monochrome landscapes painted in the antechamber of the triclinium (14) of the villa A of Oplontis. At other times the monochrome panels are placed inside an aedicula located in the centre of the wall, as seen in room (23) of the same villa in Oplontis, or in the two fragments from the so-called villa of the Royal Stables in Portici.

See Esposito D., 2010. Le pitture della Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano in La Villa Romaine de Boscoreale et ses Fresques. édicions errance: Musée royal de Mariemont. p. 215, figg. 7, 8, 9.

According to the Catalogue –

This plaster and pigment fresco was found in the atrium area on December 15^th 1754.

See Catalogue (p.180-181) of exhibition entitled “Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum”, edited by Kenneth Lapatin. 

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. East wall of ala (d). Two fragments of fresco.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number s. n.

According to Esposito, the observation of the remains still in situ in the two alae and of the fragments detached during the excavation of the end of the last century from the ala (d) confirm the provenance in these rooms, most likely from the east wall of the ala (d), of the two fragments with monochromatic landscapes preserved at the Naples Museum.

See Esposito D., 2010. Le pitture della Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano in La Villa Romaine de Boscoreale et ses Fresques. édicions errance: Musée royal de Mariemont. p. 215, fig. 7.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Oecus (g). South wall, east part.

Fresco fragment of a panel with branch entering from a window.

A red-brown wall has a small window facing an open space, of which only the blue of the sky can be recognized.

From the grating of the window hangs a branch of vine on which is hung a yellow ribbon.

The wall is completed at the top by a golden shelf largely occupied by a pinax with doors, seen in perspective.

The two open doors, allow a glimpse of a female figure standing, with a grey-blue dress, covered with a yellow coat.

Above this is a coffered ceiling in perspective, which suggests the presence of another room.

See Esposito D., 2010. Le pitture della Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano in La Villa Romaine de Boscoreale et ses Fresques. édicions errance: Musée royal de Mariemont. p. 217, fig. 11.

According to the Catalogue –

This painted plaster had a reconstructed height of 191.5cm and width of 88.3cm, and was found in the atrium area, room “g”, south wall.

PA-Erco (no inventory number).

See Catalogue (p.216-217) of exhibition entitled “Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum”, edited by Kenneth Lapatin.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of sacred landscape.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9458.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of sacred landscape.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9499.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Fresco of goat.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9902.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Still life plaster and pigment fresco showing Silver Vessels. (H: 1.35m, W: 1.28m).

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9944.

According to the Catalogue –

This was found in the atrium on 22^nd June 1755.

See Catalogue (p.182-183) of exhibition entitled “Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum”, edited by Kenneth Lapatin. 

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Plaster and pigment fresco of panther with ring and rhyton.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 8779.

According to the Catalogue –

This was an accompanying panel to the panel with the Silver Vessels, “both attributes of the wine god Dionysus that make explicit the potential for sophisticated dining to tip into Bacchic revelry.”

It was found on 22^nd June 1755 in the atrium.

See Catalogue (p.182-183) of exhibition entitled “Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum”, edited by Kenneth Lapatin. 

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Atrium (c). Fresco of feline head with ring in mouth.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9951.

According to Esposito, this is the second piece from the atrium (c) identified by Allroggen-Bedel.

It shows a Panther head, on a yellow background, with a bronze ring between the jaws which refers to the decoration of the false doors that mark the long walls of the atrium.

See Esposito D., 2010. Le pitture della Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano in La Villa Romaine de Boscoreale et ses Fresques. édicions errance: Musée royal de Mariemont. p. 213, fig. 3.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Atrium (c). Fresco of two birds.

According to Moormann this fragment, is from the atrium (c) and is of octagonal form and rather faded, in which one recognizes a duck and another bird painted with natural tones.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number s. n.

See Esposito D., 2010. Le pitture della Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano in La Villa Romaine de Boscoreale et ses Fresques. édicions errance: Musée royal de Mariemont, p. 212-3, fig. 5.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Sacred landscape.

DAIR 65.1290. Photo © Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Rom, Arkiv.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9465.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Sacred landscape.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9467.

Missing frescoes

Paesaggio - perduto

Natura morta, anatra - perduta

Natura morta, anatra - perduta

Natura morta; brocca - perduta

Testa di donna - perduta

Cavalli marini - perduti

Uccello - perduto

Pantera - perduta

Pantera - perduta

Those we have no photographs of as yet

9447

9891 brocca

S.n. 31

Anatra stante

Anatra ed uccello sospesi

Meandro

The full list from Moormann

Moormann Tavola 1: Tavola dei frammenti trovati nel Villa dei Papiri nel Settecento.

31 Pagano - Prisciandaro 2006, pp. 206-217.

Aggiungo le date, quando mancano, o differiscono da Comparetti-De Petra 1882.

I add dates, when they are missing, or differ from Comparetti-De Petra 1882.

32 S.n.: senza numero d’inventario.

33 Forse inserito in MANN 8759 (Allroggen-Bedel 1976, p. 87; 1983, p. 67; Moormann 1984, 639-640 n. 11).

Allroggen-Bedel 1976 = A. Allroggen-Bedel, Ein Malerei-Fragment aus der Villa dei Papiri, in «CronErc» 6, 1976, pp. 85-88.

Allroggen-Bedel 1983 = A. Allroggen-Bedel, Un frammento di dipinto, in La Villa dei Papiri, «CronErc», suppl. 2, 1983, pp. 65-68.

Comparetti-De Petra 1882 = D. Comparetti-G. De Petra, La villa ercolanese dei Pisoni, Torino 1882 (ristampa Napoli 1972).

Moormann 1984 = E.M. Moormann, Le pitture della Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano, in M. Gigante (a c.), Atti del XVII Congresso internazionale di papirologia, Napoli 1984, pp. 637-674.

Pagano -Prisciandaro 2006 = M. Pagano-R. Prisciandaro, Studio sulle provenienze degli oggetti rinvenuti negli scavi borbonici del Regno di Napoli, Napoli 2006.

Wojcik 1986 = M.R. Wojcik, La Villa dei Papiri ad Ercolano, Roma 1986.

Mosaics

Mosaics in Naples Archaeological Museum

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Circular polychrome mosaic floor, from the Belvedere.

Diameter 7.80m, covering an area of 42 square metres, now in Naples Archaeological Museum, but without an inventory number.

According to Gli Ornati -

No.32. “Pavimento circolare a lastre di giallo antico. Le lastres on piramidali e circolarmente disposte in ventidue cerchi concentrici.

Incisione del Fiorillo.”

See Gli ornati delle pareti ed i pavimenti delle stanze dell'antica Pompei incisi in rame: 1838, and Gli Ornati (pt.2. 1808).

According to Papaccio, “this was sketched by Weber on January 13th, 1751, described as the great circular “belvedere mosaic”, so called because it was imagined having adorned an outlying panoramic point of the Villa.”

See Papaccio, V. The floors of the Villa dei Papiri. (p.56-63, of Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum, edited by Kenneth Lapatin). 

According to Allroggen-Bedel, this was a mosaic floor from the Villa of Papyri at Herculaneum.

See Allroggen-Bedel, A. Il Museo Ercolanense di Portici in Cronache Ercolanese supp. 2, 1983, p. 112.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. July 2019.  

Circular polychrome mosaic floor in room CXXXIX, from the Belvedere.

It is now installed in a circular room, part of the “Magna Grecia” collection of Naples Archaeological Museum.

Inventory number s. n.  Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

According to the description card in the Museum –

“Al II Complesso di Stabiae appartengono molti dei sectilia policromi, mentre da Ercolano proviene il meraviglioso pavimento circolare a file di triangoli concentrici, nella sala CXXXIX, rinvenuto nel 1751 nel cosiddetto Belvedere della Villa dei Papiri.”

(Many of the polychrome sectilia belong to the Second Complex at Stabia, while from Herculaneum comes the wonderful circular floor with rows of concentric triangles, in room CXXXIX, found in 1751 in the so-called Belvedere of the Villa of the Papiri).

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. July 2019.  

Circular polychrome mosaic floor, from the Belvedere. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. July 2019.  

Detail of circular polychrome mosaic floor, from the Belvedere. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. July 2019.  

Detail of circular polychrome mosaic floor, from the Belvedere. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. July 2019.  

Detail of centre of circular polychrome mosaic floor, from the Belvedere. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. Detail of centre of polychrome mosaic floor, from the Belvedere.

Photo courtesy Naples Museum. See Museum Annual Report 2018.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. July 2019.  

Detail of polychrome mosaic floor, from the Belvedere. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum. July 2019.  

Detail of polychrome mosaic floor, from the Belvedere. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

Mosaics in the Royal Palace at Portici

No.1 - The provenance for this mosaic is uncertain.

After its discovery in the eighteenth century, it was lifted and sent to the Royal Palace at Portici.

However, it is possible that it was from a room at the Villa of the Papyri.

Photographed at Reggia di Portici, October 2013. Mosaic pavements in Royal Apartments.

Photo courtesy of Frédérique Marchand-Beaulieu and Helen Dessales.

©Villa Diomedes Project, Image database, http://villadiomede.huma-num.fr/bdd/images/5283

See Papaccio, V. The floors of the Villa dei Papiri. (p.56-63, of Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum, edited by Kenneth Lapatin). 

No.1 - Detail of central mosaic in photo above.

“A Second Style composite pavement at Portici in opus tessellatum consisting of 63 squares (7 x 9) of alternating positive and negative geometrical space in black and white tesserae, creates the optical illusion of superimposed rotated dotted squares.

The central panel is surrounded by a long band of braided guilloche in white, yellow and red on a black background.”

See Papaccio, V. The floors of the Villa dei Papiri. (p.56-63, of Buried by Vesuvius, the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum, edited by Kenneth Lapatin). 

Photographed at Reggia di Portici, October 2013. Mosaic pavements in Royal Apartments.

Photo courtesy of Frédérique Marchand-Beaulieu and Helen Dessales.

©Villa Diomedes Project, Image database, http://villadiomede.huma-num.fr/bdd/images/5292

No.1 - Reggia di Portici, pre-1796. Detail of mosaic flooring in Royal Apartments, possibly from Villa of Papyri.

See Gli ornati delle pareti ed i pavimenti delle stanze dell'antica Pompei incisi in rame: 1838, p. 118/124, and Gli Ornati pt.1.1796.

According to Cooke, Cockburn, and Donaldson – This mosaic may have come from the Villa of Diomedes at Pompeii.

See Cooke, Cockburn, and Donaldson, 1827. Pompeii Illustrated: Vol. 2. London: Cooke, pl. 52.

No.2. - Reggia di Portici, July 2021.

Mosaic floor in Palazzo Reale, attributed as being from Villa of Papiri at Herculaneum. Photo courtesy of Davide Peluso.

No.2. - Reggia di Portici, October 2013. Mosaic pavement in Royal Apartments.

Photo courtesy of Frédérique Marchand-Beaulieu and Helen Dessales.

©Villa Diomedes Project, Image database, http://villadiomede.huma-num.fr/bdd/images/5323

No.2. - Reggia di Portici, October 2013. Detail of mosaic flooring in Royal Apartments.

Photo courtesy of Frédérique Marchand-Beaulieu and Helen Dessales.

©Villa Diomedes Project, Image database, http://villadiomede.huma-num.fr/bdd/images/5322

No.2 - Reggia di Portici, pre-1796. Detail of mosaic flooring in Royal Apartments.

See Gli ornati delle pareti ed i pavimenti delle stanze dell'antica Pompei incisi in rame: 1838, and Gli Ornati (pt.1.1796)

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