Insula V |

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Apr 17 2008, 6:22 AM EDT	clemio	1 word added
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Insula V lies to the north of Insula IV across the lower decumanus, stretching as far as Decumanus Maximus where it faces the Forum. It is bound to west and east by Cardo IV and Cardo V respectively.

Houses include the Samnite House, the House of the Great Portal, the House of the Wooden Sacellum, the House of the Corinthian Atrium, the House of the Bi-centenary, the House of the Beautiful Courtyard, the House of the Neptune Mosaic and the House of the Carbonised Furniture.

Samnite House (Ins V,1)

The house, which dates from the 2nd century B.C., is one of the oldest buildings so far discovered in Herculaneum.

The entrance portal has tufa columns with Corinthian capitals as shown in the photograph on the right and is surmounted by a decorative gallery built as part of the second floor.

The entrance hall is decorated with frescos in the First Style imitating polychrome marble (bottom right).

The hall leads into the atrium which has a gallery with Ionic columns closed off with a stucco lined tracery screen on three sides while it is open to the south as shown in the photograph below.
...

The upper floor was at sometime split into apartments and made independent by the addition of the steep wooden staircase next to the neighbouring property (No. 2).

To the right of the entrance is one of the few rooms with a green momochrome fresco. It is decorated with architectural motifs, hangings and in the centre there is a small panel illustrating the Rape of Europa. The elegant decoration of the ground floor is in stark contrast to that found on the upper floor.

..
The garden, which was once part of the house, now forms part of the adjoining property, the House of the Great Portal, described next below. Several objects which came to light during the excavations are on display, including parts of a statuette of Venus and some dog-shaped table legs.

House of the Great Portal (Ins V, 35)

The entrance, after which the building was named, consists of brick demi-columns, surmounted by Corinthian capitals carved with winged Victories. The house has an unusual layout: with the absence of an atrium, the rooms radiate from an elongated vestibule that joins an open courtyard which serves as a source of light and where terracotta ducts channeled rainwater into a cistern.
	The rooms were in the main decorated with frescos of the Fourth Style.. . In particular, the triclinium is decorated with a small panel illustrating a Dionysian theme while the vestibule has architectural motifs painted on a black background.
	The vestibule also contains a fine panel depicting birds pecking at cherries. Like other properties, the House of the Great Portal has a shop opening onto the street. It was probably rented out as it is totally separate from the rest of the house.

House of the Wooden Sacellum (Ins V)

Immediately north of the House of the Great Portal is the House of the Wooden Sacellum, named after a temple-like sacellum (shrine) overlying a cabinet.

The shrine held statuettes of the owner's household gods, while the lower cabinet, when opened, was found to contain a trove of everyday objects - perfume bottles, buttons, even a dish of garlic.

The entrance to the house is on the left of the photograph just before the steps.

Despite the house's small size, it is still a fine example of an old patrician dwelling, inside which are fragments of First and Third Style frescos.

House of the Corinthian Atrium (Ins V, 30)

.. The photographs (above and left) show the stucco cladding particularly well. In the centre of the atrium is a small marble fountain. .. To the right of the entrance is a room with a fine geometric design floor in which various objects including a small wooden table and a straw basket with lid, are displayed. To the left are service rooms which lead to the upper floor. .. At the far end of the atrium is a large triclinium, where various other finds are displayed.

A small portico opens onto an atrium which has six tufa columns covered with red and white stucco, surmounted by Corinthian capitals. ..

House of the Bi-centenary (Ins V, 15-16)

This house was named after the bi-centennial celebrations being held to commemorate the beginning of the excavation of Herculaneum. It was discovered by Amadeo Maiuri in 1838, exactly two hundred years after the first excavations were undertaken. ..

.. The entrance, opening directly onto the Decunanus Maximus, is situated between shops as shown in the photographs above and opposite. .. The large atrium has a sloping roof and a black and white mosaic floor. The Fourth Style frescos are of architectural and animal motifs. .. At the far side is the tablinum flanked by lateral alae. The tablinum, which is in a good state of preservation, has a fine mozaic floor in opus tesselatum: a geometric pattern in black and white, with a central panel in opus sectile. In two large panels on the walls are paintings, one of Daedalus and Pasiphae and the other of Venus and Mars. Beyond the tablinum, a staircase leads from the garden to the more modest second floor, probably rented out apartments.

House of the Beautiful Courtyard (Ins V, 8)

This house has an unusual layout, more akin to an Italian medieval building than a first century one.

The long, low ceilinged entrance serves both as a vestible and atrium. Off it to the right are three rooms, and at the far end is the 'beautiful courtyard'.

The courtyard is raised and has a mosaic surface.

An external stair, resembling, with its parapet and landing, typical examples of 14th and 15th century Italian houses, leads upstairs.

The upstairs rooms connect via the landing. In the rooms are some frescoes painted in the Third Style.

House of the Neptune Mosaic (Ins V, 6-7)

Just south of the House of the Beautiful Courtyard is the House of the Neptune Mosaic. The owner of the house must also have owned the connecting wine shop which opens directly onto the street. The shop has survived almost intact and is the best preserved example of a shop in the region.	The wooden fittings are still in place (pictured left): shelves for amphorae, the ballustrade of the balcony and, behind the counter, a partition with two grills.
	Broad beans and chick peas were found in the large jars set in the masonry of the counter. The house itself has a straight forward layout. At the far side of the atrium, a tablinum gives way to a beautifully decorated triclinium with a built-in marble table and mosaic decoration on the walls as shown in the accompanying photographs (view above, with details right and below).

..
On the far end wall of the triclinium is a nympheum surmounted by the head of Silenus (right) and two marble threatrical masks.
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The side and central niches are decorated with geometric and floral motifs and hunting scenes with dogs and deer composed of glass paste mosaics. The niche borders and ends are embellished with shell and mother of pearl designs.

In the centre of the back wall of the triclinium is the mosaic after which the house is named (right) showing Neptune and Amphitrite surrounded by a decorative motif.

The upstairs rooms (open to the street as the front wall collapsed during the eruption of Vesuvius) still bear some of their frescoes.

House of the Carbonised Furniture (Ins V)

The House of the Carbonised Furniture is, like the neighbouring Samnite House, one of the oldest buildings in Herculaneum. Renovated in the Claudian era, it is decorated with a mixture of Third and Fourth Style frescoes.

The triclinium is reached by way of an entrance hall. It is decorated with Fourth Style frescoes depicting architectural themes framing pictures of a rooster and a still life. At the far end of the atrium is the tablinum and a second room that overlooks the courtyard.

..
The photograph on the right above is of a room next to the courtyard, from which it gets its light. In it are displayed a dining couch, a wooden table and some pottery.

The courtyard contains an impluvium for collecting rainwater and a lararium adorned with stucco reliefs and paintings.

House of the Tailor (Ins V)

This house lies immediately south of the House of the Carbonised Furniture and is much simpler in layout. It was home to a weaver and, as is quite often the case, served both as his house and his workshop.


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