Archaeologists Discover Breathtaking Wall Paintings Frozen in Time Inside a Modest Home in Ancient Pompeii | Smithsonian

Cool Finds

Despite its unusually small size, the newly unearthed House of Phaedra is covered in elaborate frescos depicting mythological scenes

Sonja Anderson

Daily Correspondent

A tiny house full of exquisite frescos has been discovered in the ancient city of Pompeii. While the home is modest in size, researchers say that its decorations—including erotic scenes—are equal to those of much larger nearby residences.

Found during recent excavations in the central district of the city, the painted dwelling also exemplifies a shift in Roman building styles. The small space doesn’t include an atrium, which was a common feature in wealthy Pompeian homes, per a statement from the Pompeii Archaeological Park. Traditionally, grand residences featured rooms surrounding a central, open-air space that housed a basin for collecting rainwater.

“The atrium was associated with rich Romans receiving their clients and supporters and as a place to display family heirlooms,” as park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel tells the London Times’ Tom Kington.

Eventually, Roman home design evolved, and it became more acceptable to forgo the inclusion of an expensive atrium. Instead, elite families displayed their wealth in other ways.

“As Rome entered the second century C.E., many freed slaves and merchants of humble origin were achieving social status, while old money was slipping,” Zuchtriegel tells the Times. “More than an atrium, it was clothes and jewels that were beginning to show status. Having no atrium was starting to be a choice, and we see that trend emerging at Pompeii.”

The newly discovered structure is called the House of Phaedra, named for a well-preserved painting of the mythological Hippolytus and Phaedra on its wall. In Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy Hippolytus, Phaedra, the wife of hero Theseus, falls in love with her stepson Hippolytus. In the fresco, Phaedra sits draped in cloth, while Hippolytus stands before her.

Other frescos show the sensual embrace of a satyr (a half-man, half-goat) and a nymph (a maiden goddess). Another wall painting likely depicts the goddess Venus with her beau Adonis, according to the park. One painted scene, though damaged, appears to illustrate the Judgment of Paris.

Inside the house, researchers discovered a small altar containing several ritual objects, including a ceramic container for burning incense, which still held material from its last use two millennia ago. They also found a lamp, parts of a dried fig and an iron knife.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E., volcanic ash buried Pompeii and other nearby Roman towns, leaving them frozen in time. Since Pompeii’s rediscovery in the late 16th century, archaeologists have been digging out its preserved ruins. Today, about a third of the site remains unexcavated.

The house was found in Pompeii’s Insula dei Casti Amanti site, a cluster of buildings that opened to the public this year. Last spring, researchers discovered children’s graffiti depicting a gladiator fight in a nearby house. Just a few months ago, they found a unique blue-painted shrine, also located in central Pompeii. Other excavations in recent years have uncovered a pregnant tortoise, an ancient construction site and a painting of a circular flatbread that resembles a pizza, among other finds.

As Zuchtriegel says in the statement, excavating Pompeii while keeping it open to visitors is crucial to the park’s aims of transparency and education. He adds that observing the work of archaeologists and restorers helps visitors understand the importance of documenting and safeguarding the surviving traces of Pompeii’s ancient residents.

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Sonja Anderson is a writer and reporter based in New York City.