The House of Artists at Work or House of the Painters at Work
is now excavated along with the adjacent
House of Chaste Lovers as part of
the ongoing excavations, which cover most of the southern end of
Regio IX, Insula 12. The building received its name from the
unfinished decorations in the large room (k) in the southeast corner. Pots and brushes were found in the room, and some of the central
panels were only drawn in outline of the proposed decorative scene.
For all these signs, archaeologists have found that artists worked
here during the eruption. Their bodies were not found and nothing is
known about their fate. Quite possibly they were able to escape.
The House of the Painters at Work has an irregular layout and may
have been a mixed commercial and residential complex during an
eruption. The house covers the width of the insula with the entrance
to each of the adjacent streets.
The doorway (a) on the west side (the official door number that has
not yet been assigned) seems to be the main entrance of the House of
the Painters at Work, as the east doorway (j) leads directly to the
kitchen area and the restroom. Therefore it was a black entrance for
the servants. The rooms on the western side of the mansion were
partially excavated, and the exact relationship between some rooms
has not yet been determined. The two rooms that have been cleaned
are either for storage or sleeping (b) and (c). The
bedroom-cubiculum (b) is decorated with frescoes in the fourth style
with white panels which depict figures framing the central white
panels containing a decorative scene. These panels are located above
the bottom red frieze. The upper zone consists of geometric shapes
on a white background. Room (c) has a window in the eastern wall and
it is also decorated with fourth-style frescoes with white panels
framed in red above the lower red frieze. The room has a beautiful
mosaic floor in a black and white geometric pattern with an
additional rectangular mosaic denoting a threshold.
The
fairly large area of the House of the Painters at Work, which was
partially excavated, is occupied by the garden (d) and the
surrounding rooms. The peristyle, surrounded by columns from three
sides, is decorated with a red panel frieze framed by a yellow frame
under a simple white upper area. Room (e) in the northwestern corner
of the peristyle, apparently, was left without decoration and used
as a repository, as evidenced by the discovery of a number of
amphoras found on the north wall. The adjacent room (f) is decorated
with frescoes in the fourth style with white frame panels containing
the central scenes above the lower one decorated with a red frieze.
The upper zone is also decorated with small frame panels containing
figures, separated by garlands.