DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31189#0020
14
The north wall, in three not contiguous sections, is preserved to about half of
its original width. The dado, which presumably ran around the room, is preserved
only here; it is dark purplish red with a pattern of white lines touched up with
yellow rosettes and dots; there is a white band at the top of it, with lotiform or-
naments at the structural intervals. This dado is conceived as the three-dimensional
base on which rest the columns of the architectural scheme; its top, that is, the
floor of the colonnade, is painted green. From it rises the central pavilion (pl. 4),
framingthe miniaturelandscape (pl.29. A).Thepavilion, unlike those ofthe sidewalls,
has a gabled roof; this rests on the two front columns, which pass across the hori-
zontal cornice, casting their shadows on it. The two rear columns, seen in diminished
perspective, carry this cornice only. Above the capitals of each of the two main
columns is a medallion with a portrait face in profile. The two seem to be generalized
likenesses of the same man, and have the look of the Julio-Claudian house, but the
long blond hair does not suggest Augustus; they might allude to Agrippa (pl. B).
On each side of the central aedicula is a rounded niche (pl. 5,1.2) with a
rectangular offset. The cornice continues across the curve of the niche, but the
pattern on it shifts to spirals. Within stands a candeiabrum with brackets on which
are swans holding a fillet in their beaks like those in the acanthus scrolls of the
Ara Pacis. The finial (pl. 6) is a vase which serves as a support for a yellow rectangular
tablet with an Egyptianizing scene 12.
When the existing elements of the east and west walls are put in position, the
fragment of a cornice (pl. 7) being placed over two pairs of columns (pl. 8, 1),
Della Corte’s aediculae emerge, and four of the five existing units such as the one
in pl. 3 are seen to confront each other in pairs, mirror-fashion, from opposite
walls. For the fifth existing unit, therefore, a mirror-image has been restored, making
six, and for symmetry a seventh, opposite the west doorway, has been added. The
cornice has been stretched by the reduplication of a beam-end on each side, to
match the number on the north wall. In like manner the two tripods (cf. pl. 8,2),
which stand diagonally opposite each other, have been supplied with their mirror-
images. The dado preserved on the north wall has been copied for the two side
walls. The spacing between the preserved sections is arbitrary, there being no guide
to it other than the known limits of the walls.
The narrow band of this cornice appears also on the column elements (cf. pl. 8, 1)
and is taken to be continuous across the top of the two central aediculae. Below it
are the beam-ends and a central ornament, above it, at the corners, are vases holding
tall twigs, none of which is preserved to its full height; between these are scrolls
surmounted by confronted griffins, also only partly preserved. The two side elements,
or wings, of each aedicula are surmounted by a broader cornice; at the corners,
12 Mr. Hayes, the Curator of Egyptian Art in the Metropolitan Museum, regards these
as attempts to illustrate a. the crocodile god Sobk and a worshipper, with Apis (?) between
them; and b. perhaps Ammon (who, however, in Egyptian iconography would not be
kneeling) opposite a votary holding a sistrum, with a jackal god between them. Both pic-
tures are misunderstood in detail.
The north wall, in three not contiguous sections, is preserved to about half of
its original width. The dado, which presumably ran around the room, is preserved
only here; it is dark purplish red with a pattern of white lines touched up with
yellow rosettes and dots; there is a white band at the top of it, with lotiform or-
naments at the structural intervals. This dado is conceived as the three-dimensional
base on which rest the columns of the architectural scheme; its top, that is, the
floor of the colonnade, is painted green. From it rises the central pavilion (pl. 4),
framingthe miniaturelandscape (pl.29. A).Thepavilion, unlike those ofthe sidewalls,
has a gabled roof; this rests on the two front columns, which pass across the hori-
zontal cornice, casting their shadows on it. The two rear columns, seen in diminished
perspective, carry this cornice only. Above the capitals of each of the two main
columns is a medallion with a portrait face in profile. The two seem to be generalized
likenesses of the same man, and have the look of the Julio-Claudian house, but the
long blond hair does not suggest Augustus; they might allude to Agrippa (pl. B).
On each side of the central aedicula is a rounded niche (pl. 5,1.2) with a
rectangular offset. The cornice continues across the curve of the niche, but the
pattern on it shifts to spirals. Within stands a candeiabrum with brackets on which
are swans holding a fillet in their beaks like those in the acanthus scrolls of the
Ara Pacis. The finial (pl. 6) is a vase which serves as a support for a yellow rectangular
tablet with an Egyptianizing scene 12.
When the existing elements of the east and west walls are put in position, the
fragment of a cornice (pl. 7) being placed over two pairs of columns (pl. 8, 1),
Della Corte’s aediculae emerge, and four of the five existing units such as the one
in pl. 3 are seen to confront each other in pairs, mirror-fashion, from opposite
walls. For the fifth existing unit, therefore, a mirror-image has been restored, making
six, and for symmetry a seventh, opposite the west doorway, has been added. The
cornice has been stretched by the reduplication of a beam-end on each side, to
match the number on the north wall. In like manner the two tripods (cf. pl. 8,2),
which stand diagonally opposite each other, have been supplied with their mirror-
images. The dado preserved on the north wall has been copied for the two side
walls. The spacing between the preserved sections is arbitrary, there being no guide
to it other than the known limits of the walls.
The narrow band of this cornice appears also on the column elements (cf. pl. 8, 1)
and is taken to be continuous across the top of the two central aediculae. Below it
are the beam-ends and a central ornament, above it, at the corners, are vases holding
tall twigs, none of which is preserved to its full height; between these are scrolls
surmounted by confronted griffins, also only partly preserved. The two side elements,
or wings, of each aedicula are surmounted by a broader cornice; at the corners,
12 Mr. Hayes, the Curator of Egyptian Art in the Metropolitan Museum, regards these
as attempts to illustrate a. the crocodile god Sobk and a worshipper, with Apis (?) between
them; and b. perhaps Ammon (who, however, in Egyptian iconography would not be
kneeling) opposite a votary holding a sistrum, with a jackal god between them. Both pic-
tures are misunderstood in detail.