DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0326
266
POMPEII
The face of the Genius in the house of the Vettii (Fig. 122)
bears a decided resemblance to that of Nero. Here the shrine
was placed in the rear wall of the smaller atrium. It consists
of a broad, shallow niche, the front of which is elaborately
ornamented to give the appearance of a little temple, while on
the back are painted the household divinities. The Genius
stands with veiled head between the two Lares, holding in his
left hand a box of incense and pouring a libation with the right.
In the original painting the features were unusually distinct.
The Penates were the protecting divinities of the provisions
or stores, penus, and the storerooms of the house; under this
name were included various gods to whom the master and the
household offered special worship. At Pompeii the Penates, as
the Lares and the Genius, appear in paintings, and are also rep-
resented by bronze images placed in the shrines. In the shrine
of the house of Lucretius were diminutive bronze figures of the
Genius and of Jupiter, Hercules, Fortuna, and another divinity
that has not been identified. Statuettes of Apollo, Aesculapius,
Hercules, and Mercury were found, together with those of the
two Lares, in another house; in a third, Fortuna alone with the
Lares.
Jupiter and Fortuna are frequently met with in shrine paint-
ings, as well as Venus Pompeiana (Fig. 4), Hercules, Mars, and
Vulcan as a personification of the hearth fire; Vesta, the patron
goddess of bakers, usually appears in the hearth paintings of
bake shops.
Underneath the representations of the Lares and Penates
ordinarily are painted two serpents, one on either side of an
altar, which they are approaching in order to partake of the
offerings; these consist of fruits, in the midst of which an egg
or a pine cone can usually be distinguished. As early as the
beginning of the Empire the significance of the serpent in the
Roman worship had ceased to be clearly understood; Virgil
represents Aeneas as in doubt whether the serpent which came
out from the tomb of Anchises was the spirit of his father or
the Genius of the place.
In the Pompeian paintings, when a pair of serpents occurs,
one may usually be recognized as a male by the prominent
POMPEII
The face of the Genius in the house of the Vettii (Fig. 122)
bears a decided resemblance to that of Nero. Here the shrine
was placed in the rear wall of the smaller atrium. It consists
of a broad, shallow niche, the front of which is elaborately
ornamented to give the appearance of a little temple, while on
the back are painted the household divinities. The Genius
stands with veiled head between the two Lares, holding in his
left hand a box of incense and pouring a libation with the right.
In the original painting the features were unusually distinct.
The Penates were the protecting divinities of the provisions
or stores, penus, and the storerooms of the house; under this
name were included various gods to whom the master and the
household offered special worship. At Pompeii the Penates, as
the Lares and the Genius, appear in paintings, and are also rep-
resented by bronze images placed in the shrines. In the shrine
of the house of Lucretius were diminutive bronze figures of the
Genius and of Jupiter, Hercules, Fortuna, and another divinity
that has not been identified. Statuettes of Apollo, Aesculapius,
Hercules, and Mercury were found, together with those of the
two Lares, in another house; in a third, Fortuna alone with the
Lares.
Jupiter and Fortuna are frequently met with in shrine paint-
ings, as well as Venus Pompeiana (Fig. 4), Hercules, Mars, and
Vulcan as a personification of the hearth fire; Vesta, the patron
goddess of bakers, usually appears in the hearth paintings of
bake shops.
Underneath the representations of the Lares and Penates
ordinarily are painted two serpents, one on either side of an
altar, which they are approaching in order to partake of the
offerings; these consist of fruits, in the midst of which an egg
or a pine cone can usually be distinguished. As early as the
beginning of the Empire the significance of the serpent in the
Roman worship had ceased to be clearly understood; Virgil
represents Aeneas as in doubt whether the serpent which came
out from the tomb of Anchises was the spirit of his father or
the Genius of the place.
In the Pompeian paintings, when a pair of serpents occurs,
one may usually be recognized as a male by the prominent