Roman Domestic Religion
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
PP309
VI. xv. 11/12
Cult Space Type:
Cult Painting
Date:
79 A.D.
Associated
Cult Spaces:
-
Structural type:
Wall Painting
Room function:
Commercial space (Hospitality)
Description:
In the rear room of the commercial shop was a cult painting. The painting sat on the east wall and was comprised of two registers. The upper depicted the Lares holding rhyta and paterae with a Genius in between them, holding a cornucopia and a patera from which he poured a libation onto an altar. In the lower, two serpents met at an altar furnished with offerings of two eggs. The background was decorated with foliage. Below the serpents were depictions of a ham, a hog's head, sausages, a rib roast (or a gridiron depending on descriptions), and an identifiable object. Garlands were painted at the top and sides of the scene. The painting does not survive today.
References:
Boyce 1937, p. 55 (#217)
Image reference:
Warscher ca. 1930s (Via Pompeii in Pictures)