New excavations at Pompeii have uncovered a tiny house featuring exquisite frescos, and researchers have concluded that even smaller residences in the ancient city were decorated with stunning murals.
Paintings of this kind are often associated with vast estates flaunted by rich elites in the historical city near Naples, destroyed by an eruption at Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
But a house found during a fresh excavation of the doomed city suggests murals were smaller settings, with one in the home featuring a sensual embrace between a satyr – a deity associated with drunken revelry – and a naked nymph, The Times reports.
Another depicts Phaedra, a Cretan princess from Greek mythology who, according to legend, fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus and accused him of raping her after he rejected her advances.
The gods punished Hippolytus for the allegations by being ripped apart by horses, and Phaedra, overwhelmed with guilt, killed herself.
A photograph from the dig in central Pompeii along Via dell’Abbondanza shows the team unearthing the painting, showing Hippolytus with a shocked expression.
Unlike many of the houses excavated in the most recent dig, the property wasn’t built around the traditional Roman atrium, an open space where rainwater was collected.
But Pompeii Archaeological Park said in a statement that they were struck by the “high level of its wall decorations,” noting they were of similar quality to works found in far larger and more abundant homes close by, as per US News.
Among the other works found, there is a depiction of what researchers believe to be Venus and Adonis, as well as a damaged wall painting of the Judgement of Paris, another mythical story which is said to have played a key role in the start of the Trojan War.
Another intriguing find was a painted domestic altar at the property’s entrance, provisionally dubbed the House of Phaedra.
The altar is decorated with birds of prey, sparrows, and snakes, as well as plant motifs with a ceramic incense burner found within the altar and a lamp, both of which are ceremonial objects, as reported by Art-Net.
The House of Phaedra is thought to have been undergoing construction work since the devastating eruption.
About 2,000 Pompeiians died in the city, with as many as 16,000 people thought to have been killed across Pompeii, Herculaneum and other towns and villages.
Excavators have previously found works in the city, a third of which is still buried, demonstrating people were comfortable with prominently displaying erotic and graphic artwork in their homes.
In 2018 another property was excavated, which featured a depiction of the Spartan queen Leda being seduced by Zeus disguised as a swan and of Priapus, the god of fertility, weighing his penis on a scale, The Times reports.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the Director of the archaeological park, said: “The atrium was associated with rich Romans receiving their clients and supporters and as a place to display family heirlooms, but as Rome entered the second century AD, many freed slaves and merchants of humble origin were achieving social status while old money was slipping.
“More than an atrium, clothes and jewels were beginning to show status. Having no atrium was starting to be a choice, and we see that trend emerging at Pompeii,” he added.