Description of the House (Reg I, Ins 6, 2)
The
House of the Cryptoporticus, excavated in 1916, belonged to the Valerii
Rufi family. In its last years it had been divided into two apartments,
being partially converted to a warehouse.
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The ground floor has two entrances and two atria,
the larger of the two to the left, without central columns. The most
interesting feature of the house, reached by means of a small stairway
to the side of the peristyle, is the cryptoporticus,
a large underground passageway with richly decorated walls and window
openings allowing light to filter through (below right).
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To the left of the passageway is a bath complex comprising a furnace, caldarium, tepidarium and frigidarium and at the back is the dining/living room.
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The
remaining traces of stuccoes and frescoes reveal how fine the gallery
must have looked in its prime, with a continuous series of herms
caryatids in marble along the walls surmounted by a vault richly
decorated with arches and panels of coloured stucco. A continuous wave
of green festoons ran from pillar to pillar. The back wall, done in
deep red panels, was surmounted by a frieze depicting scenes from the
Illiad.
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In
the dining/living room, oecus tricliniaris, the paintings are still
quite visible. The architectural motif is taken up again, and the herms and caryatids become half busts supporting the fine cornice, no longer interrupted by windows as in the cryptoporticus. At the top of the walls, painted bright yellow, are painted mock windows opening onto small pastoral scenes.
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The
underground cellars and passages of the house were laterly used for
wine storage. When Mount Vesuvius erupted, 18 women and children died
taking refuge in the building. Some of the plaster casts can be seen in
the cellars.
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garden contains a basin and six columns belonging to a pavilion. The
body of a man, thought to be the owner of the house, holding a key and
with a slave beside him carrying valuables, was discovered near the posticum or garden door. |
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