Leaving the 'official' part of the house, centred on the atrium, one entered the most intimate space of the peristyle, a porch formed by a row of columns that surrounded the courtyard from which one accessed the triclinium, the room where luxurious banquets were held. The images, rather than reflecting the daily use of the room, were more or less educated references to a literature of an erotic and sexual nature that spread in the Greek world from the third century BC. Images of couples during sexual intercourse were found not only in places of prostitution, as in the case of the Lupanare, the brothel of Pompeii, but also in private environments. 'Digitally unwrapped' Egyptian mummy was a healthy Pharaoh with 'beautiful teeth' 3,500 years ago.Sex scenes at the Acropolis: Film-makers are 'Parthe-non-gratis' at Greece's Culture Ministry.Here people studied, bathed, and retired for private, important or intimate conversations or erotic encounters. When Pompeii was destroyed in 79 AD, many of the atriums contained examples of traditional Roman art expressing the social and religious values of the society, but also Greek-inspired works of art, characterised by a new sensuality, such as the first two works of the exhibition: a fresco of Narcissus, the young man in love with his own image, and a sculpture of Priapus, the god of abundance and fertility who often watched over entrances and gardens.Īround the atrium were the "cubiculum" (bedrooms), which were not only used for sleeping. It was the traditional part of the house, a place of ancestral worship often home to the altar of the Lares Familiares, deities representing the protective spirits of the deceased ancestor. The first room upon entering a Roman house was the atrium, a mix between a courtyard and a large reception room. It leads the visitor through a typical Pompeian house, with the works displayed in each room: from the atrium to the cubiculum (bedroom), the triclinium (banquet hall) and the peristyle (colonnaded inner garden).Ī fresco of the Queen of Sparta being impregnated by a swan, unearthed in a Pompeii bedroom AP Photo The show is located under one of the arcades of the great gymnasium. This is a way to deal with the external world," says Maria Luisa Catoni, Professor of History and Archaeology of Ancient Art and curator of the exhibition. Its omnipresence is, of course, a sign of it conveying values which are more general than sex rather than… but it conveys values like being culturally elevated, being part of a larger high culture, grace, and knowing how to deal with the world. "We cannot think about Eros and sensuality with the same eyes we look at it today. Visitors will be able to admire for the first time the majestic ceiling of the cubiculum (bedroom), reassembled and restored, from the House of Leda and the Swan, as well as two bronze medallions with erotic scenes from a ceremonial chariot finely decorated discovered last year. Statue of Priapus from the House of the Vettii, on display at the exhibition AP Photo
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |