THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
Roman Domestic Religion
PP002
House of Menander (I. x. 4 and 16)
Cult Space Type:
Shrine
Date:
79 A.D.
Features:
Aediucla; Stucco relief
Associated
Cult Spaces:
PP056, PP057, PP058, PP059, PP060
Room function:
Atrium
Description:
Located in the northwest corner of the atrium was a large aedicula shrine. It consisted of a masonry podium, painted in imitation marble, outlined in red and yellow with geometric alternating slabs of green, yellow, and red, with a diamond-shaped red square in the centre. A stucco frieze ran around the top of the podium, on which sat the aedicula structure, formed by a single doric column at the free standing corner. The structure was painted in the fourth style matching the walls of the atrium around it. The tympana of the dual pediments had polychrome stucco frames, with their gables painted blue with a stucco relief of hippocamps set between wreaths with taeniae. The roof was originally wood, with wooden screens attached to the open sides of the shrine. The interior of the shrine was also painted in imitation marble. The interior base had two levels, presumably for the placement of statues.
References:
Boyce 1937, pg. 27-28 (#48); Ling et al 1997, p.48; Allison 2004, p.144-145, 205; Bassani 2008, pp.172-173; Giacobello 2008, p. 232 (A2)
Image reference:
Cooper 2019