The recently restored remains of a house in Pompeii that likely belonged to two former slaves who became wealthy through the wine trade offer visitors a detailed look at domestic life in the cursed Roman city.
On Tuesday, the House of Vettii, Domus Vettiorum in Latin, was officially unveiled after 20 years of restoration. Given fresh life were the frescoes of the latest fashion in Pompeii’s wall decoration before the flourishing city was buried in volcanic ash furiously spewing from Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The opening of the restored house is another sign of Pompeii’s rebirth, which has followed decades of modern bureaucracy, flooding and looting by thieves looking for artifacts to sell.
It delights tourists and experts who reward it with a refreshing insight into the daily life of one of the most famous relics of the ancient world.
“The Vetti House is like the history of Pompeii and actually Roman society in one house,” Pompeii director Gabriel Zuchtriegel gushed as he showed off the area of the domus known as Cupid’s Room last month.
“We see here the last phase of the Pompeian wall paintings with incredible detail, so you can stand in front of the picture for hours and still discover new details,” said the energetic director of the archaeological park to the Associated Press before the public inauguration.
“So, you have this mixture: nature, architecture, art. But it’s also a story about the social life of the people of Pompei and actually the Roman world at this stage of history,” added Zuchtriegel.
The previous restoration work, which involved the repeated application of paraffin on the frescoed walls in the hope of preserving them, “caused them to become very blurred over time, as a thick and opaque layer was formed, making it difficult to ‘read’ the fresco,” he said. Stefania Giudice, director of fresco restoration.
But the candle can keep well.
Zuchtriegel seeks to ensure that the “reading” of the revived frescoes “reflects the dreams and imaginations and anxieties of the owners as they live among the images,” which include figures from Greek mythology.
And who owns this? There were two Vettis – Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus. In addition to having part of a common name, they share a common past – not as descendants of a noble Roman family accustomed to opulence, but rather, Pompeii experts say, almost certainly, as once enslaved people who were later freed.
It is believed that he became rich through the wine trade. While some have hypothesized that the two are siblings, there is no certainty about this.
In the living room, known as the Hall of Pentheus, a fresco depicts Hercules as a child, crushing two snakes, as an illustration of an episode from the life of the Greek hero. According to mythology, Hera, the goddess wife of Zeus, sent a snake to kill Hercules because she was angry because he was born from the union of Zeus with a mortal woman, Alcmena.
Could Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus recognize their own life story in some way in the figure of Hercules overcoming challenge after challenge in his life?
A question that intrigued Zuchtriegel.
After many years in slavery, the men “had an amazing career after that and reached the highest ranks of local society, at least economically,” according to the high domus and gardens, Zuchtriegel said. “They were actually trying to show their status new also through Greek mythological culture and paintings, and it’s all about saying, ‘We have created and become part of this elite'” in the Roman world.
Pompeii’s architect restoration director, Arianna Spinosa, called the restored house “one of the great houses in Pompeii. The house “represents the excellence of the Pompeii domus par, not only because of its very important frescoes, but also because of its layout and architecture.”
Baths and ornate marble tables surround the garden.
First discovered during archeological excavations at the end of the 19th century, the domus was closed in 2002 for important restoration work, including roof support. After a partial reopening in 2016, it was closed again in 2020 for the final phase of work, which included the restoration of frescoes and floors and pillars.
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