THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
Roman Domestic Religion
PP550
IX. ix. 11
Cult Space Type:
Shrine
Date:
79 A.D.
Features:
Wall Painting, Altar
Associated
Cult Spaces:
PP548, PP549, PP593
Room function:
Viridarium/Garden
Description:
On the west wall of the garden was a shrine consisting of a cult painting and an altar. In the centre of the painting was a yellow altar with a red step before it, and a red serpent coiling around it. On the right stood Bacchus. The deity was poorly preserved but could be seen to be holding his thyrsus with his panther beside him. Behind Bacchus was the figure of a bull. On the left was a black animal, suggested to be a donkey. On each side of this group were trees with flowers and birds, with male figures similar to the Lares. Unlike typical Lares, one held a spear while the other carried the usual rhyton and situla. Farther to the right was a Bacchante, also holding a thyrsus as well as a tambourine. Beneath the Lares and the Bacchante was Silenus holding a thyrsus with another Bacchante below him. This Bacchante held a human head, believed to be referring to Pentheus. Below the painting was a masonry rectangular basin. In the southwest corner of the garden stood a small terracotta altar that had signs of burning on its top. It is not preserved today.
References:
Boyce 1937, p. 92 (#463)
Image reference: