Roman Domestic Religion
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
PP240
VI. iii. 27 and 28
Cult Space Type:
Cult Painting
Date:
79 A.D.
Associated
Cult Spaces:
-
Structural type:
Wall Painting
Room function:
Commercial space (Industrial and Other)
Description:
On the west wall of the bakery was a cult painting. Now disappeared, a description survives showing that the scene comprised a sacrificial scene of the Genius and assistants grouped around an altar, with a Lar on each side. According to Mazois, the figure on the left was not a Lar but the goddess Fornax, also suggesing that it was Vesta depicted in the centre rather than a Genius. In the lower register, two serpents meet at an altar. On each side of the scene were panels of a bird. A niche was present below the painting but it is uncertain if this was used as part of the cult space. The painting does not survive today.
References:
Boyce 1937, p. 45 (#149); Fröhlich 1991, p. 275
Image reference:
Mazois 1824 (Via Pompeii in Pictures)