House of the Pinarius Cerialis

Address: Regio III, Insula 4
Area: 270 square meters
Rooms: 9

The House of the Pinarius Cerialis was so named in honor of the owner of this house. At different ends of the house during archaeological excavations, several references were made to Pinarius Cerialis as the owner of this mansion. The building lies north of the road Via delle Abbondanza. House of the Pinarius Cerialis was excavated between 1916 and 1917, and then in 1926. It is believed that the house was the residence of a jeweler and someone who in one form or another worked with precious stones. A total of 114 gems were found here. Some were already polished, and the rest were not yet processed.

This is a small dwelling of irregular plan. Although the mansion is rather small, it is beautifully decorated with beautiful frescoes. Entry (a) opens directly to the north side of the portico. There are stairs that led to the upper floor. A clear feature of House of the Pinarius Cerialis is the beautiful frescoes that have been preserved in almost the entire house.

In the center of the northern mansion there is a room for cubatum (b), which has a window overlooking the garden, located in the south. The room, accessible from aly (c), is decorated with frescoes in the fourth style, perhaps the most accurate depiction of the fresco of how the actors looked on stage. The artist put the figures on complex backgrounds over the lower frieze of multi-colored artificial marble. On the north wall is a scene from Iphigenia in Taurida, a Greek playwright Euripides, depicting a young princess standing between two assistants at the top of the stairs leading to the platform. Two groups are also depicted here: the Scythian king Thoas on the left and the right, Orest and Pilades. Their hands are tied in preparation for the sacrifice.

House of the Pinarius Cerialis