DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0385
THE HOUSE OF THE VETTII 325
ties appear. Apollo has just slain the Python, which lies coiled
about the Omphalos, the sacred symbol of the god as the giver
of oracles at Delphi. His bow and quiver are hanging upon a
column in the background, and he moves forward with vigorous
step singing the Paean with an accompaniment upon the cithara.
At the right, Artemis, with a quiver and long hunting spear,
leans upon a pillar looking at her brother. Nearer the Omphalos
are a priest and a female attendant, with a bull intended for
sacrifice; the relation of these to the rest of the scene is not
clear.
The companion picture takes us to a sanctuary dedicated to
Artemis. At the left a gilt bronze image of the goddess, in
hunting costume, stands upon a pillar, to the side of which a
bow, quiver, and boar’s head are fastened. On one side of the
round altar in the middle is a white hind, sacred to the goddess;
on the other, moving toward it with a sword in the uplifted right
hand, is a kingly figure, the face turned with a wild and threat-
ening look toward a frightened attendant; another attendant,
back of the hind, seems not yet to have noticed the sacrilegious
intruder. The composition is full of dramatic power; the sub-
ject can be none other than the slaying of the hind of Artemis
by the impious Agamemnon.
The third of these small paintings presents a scene not infre-
quently met with on Pompeian walls, Orestes and Pylades at
Tauris in the presence of King Thoas, and of Iphigenia, who is
now a priestess of Artemis. The conception is akin to that of
the painting in the house of the Citharist (Fig. 175), but the
picture is partially obliterated.
The long stripe below the panels is preserved in more than
half its length, on the end wall (3), on that at the right, and on
the short sections of the front wall; there is also a fragment on
the left side. It contains a series of charming pictures repre-
senting Cupids and Psyches. Some of the little creatures are
engaged in sports, others are celebrating a festival, while others
still are busying themselves with the manifold work of everyday
life. The execution is less careful than in the small mythological
pictures ; yet the figures are so full of life, their movements are
so purposeful, and their bearing so suggestive that we seem to
ties appear. Apollo has just slain the Python, which lies coiled
about the Omphalos, the sacred symbol of the god as the giver
of oracles at Delphi. His bow and quiver are hanging upon a
column in the background, and he moves forward with vigorous
step singing the Paean with an accompaniment upon the cithara.
At the right, Artemis, with a quiver and long hunting spear,
leans upon a pillar looking at her brother. Nearer the Omphalos
are a priest and a female attendant, with a bull intended for
sacrifice; the relation of these to the rest of the scene is not
clear.
The companion picture takes us to a sanctuary dedicated to
Artemis. At the left a gilt bronze image of the goddess, in
hunting costume, stands upon a pillar, to the side of which a
bow, quiver, and boar’s head are fastened. On one side of the
round altar in the middle is a white hind, sacred to the goddess;
on the other, moving toward it with a sword in the uplifted right
hand, is a kingly figure, the face turned with a wild and threat-
ening look toward a frightened attendant; another attendant,
back of the hind, seems not yet to have noticed the sacrilegious
intruder. The composition is full of dramatic power; the sub-
ject can be none other than the slaying of the hind of Artemis
by the impious Agamemnon.
The third of these small paintings presents a scene not infre-
quently met with on Pompeian walls, Orestes and Pylades at
Tauris in the presence of King Thoas, and of Iphigenia, who is
now a priestess of Artemis. The conception is akin to that of
the painting in the house of the Citharist (Fig. 175), but the
picture is partially obliterated.
The long stripe below the panels is preserved in more than
half its length, on the end wall (3), on that at the right, and on
the short sections of the front wall; there is also a fragment on
the left side. It contains a series of charming pictures repre-
senting Cupids and Psyches. Some of the little creatures are
engaged in sports, others are celebrating a festival, while others
still are busying themselves with the manifold work of everyday
life. The execution is less careful than in the small mythological
pictures ; yet the figures are so full of life, their movements are
so purposeful, and their bearing so suggestive that we seem to