Roman Domestic Religion
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
PP413
VII. xii. 13
Cult Space Type:
Shrine
Date:
79 A.D.
Associated
Cult Spaces:
-
Structural type:
Aedicula, Niche, Wall Painting
Room function:
Commercial space (Industrial and Other)
Description:
On the east wall of the bakery space was a cult space. This consisted of a niche, sitting 2.10m above the ground, with accompanying cult paintings. The niche was rectangular and had a projecting base, its interior was coated with white stucco and decorated with spots of various colours. Underneath the niche were embedded bricks, which formed a sort of aedicula pediment. Within this structure was a painted rooster and peacock. Cult paintings took up the entire height of the wall, however, only a section of the larger painting was preserved by the time of Boyce's recording. This included traces of a Lar and two serpents at an altar with Vesta holding a sceptre. A donkey stood beside the goddess. These wall paintings no longer survive today.
References:
Boyce 1937, p. 71 (#318)
Image reference:
Pompeii in Pictures 2005