1. The Art and Architecture of Pompeii and Herculaneum
The House of the Faun
The Art and Architecture of Pompeii and Herculaneum

2. Historical Background
Original foundations go back to the 3rd century BC
Six successive construction phases traced according to different building stones
Dates back to 180 BC – example of architecture of Samnite period
Second large peristyle added 110 BC
At time of eruption probably belonged to Cassius family – suggested by election slogans found in the house and the inscription on a gold ring found on a woman’s skeleton in house

3. Special Features 3 000 m2 Occupies whole insula
Widely admired for size and splendour, beautiful mosaics (Alexander Mosaic) and brightly coloured First Style Wall decorations
Duplication of the atrium (2), triclinium (4), and peristyle (2) features
Public and private sector – architect Vitruvius recommended that men of high social status should have separate and spacious facilties to socialise with guests, while those of lesser standing would not need these as more likely to visit others
Interior walls painted in first style (imitation architectural features) which by AD 79 would have seemed conservative
Smaller atrium cannot be accessed directly from the larger one, and this probably indicates that this was more private and reserved for the family

5. Unusual Features
Has some typical Domus features, but also some unusual features:
Smaller atrium is tetrastyle (four columns around impluvium)
Kitchen relatively large, and there are baths (very unusual in private house)
Smaller peristylium is transverse (set at 90 degress to the house axis) and has 28 columns with Ionic capitals. The columns were made of stuccoed tufa (volcanic stone)
The larger peristyle has 44 Doric columns of stucco-covered brick

6. Axial Symmetry
The front entrance has a porch and a vestibule, and leads off the street with shops on either side.
The main part of the house shows axial symmetry with matching rooms on either side of the atrium.
The atrium contains an impluvium and bedrooms arranged symmetrically on either side.
Bedrooms and alae are arranged symmetrically alongside the atrium.
Beyond the atrium is the tablinum, or family living room or study, which opens onto the peristylium.
The tablinum leads through to the peristylium, a courtyard garden surrounded by a colonnade

8. Lararium in Entrance way

9. Atrium Tuscanium – Public Area

10. Atrium - Reconstruction

11. Atrium - Reconstruction

12. Tablinum

13. First Peristyle

14. Atrium Tetrastylum

15. Summer Triclinium

16. Second Peristyle

17. Alexander Mosaic taken from Exedra

18. Nile Mosaic taken from floor