Built in around AD 120, the insula (residence) has an unusual layout: the rooms are arranged on either side of a central corridor (B). The public rooms (C-E) face the Case a Giardino, whilst the private (F-H) and service rooms, including the kitchen (I), look in the opposite direction. The mosaics can generally be assigned to the original phase of the building; the paintings dating to between the late 2nd and early 3rd century AD have a white ground in the private rooms and a yellow and red ground in the public rooms. In the 3rd century AD, one of the corner rooms in the house was turned into a wine bar (thermopolium) (J); its presence, together with the arrangement of the rooms, has suggested that the building may have been used as a hotel.
Axonometric reconstruction of the insula and of the kitchen (I)
(M.A. Ricciardi)
Axonometric reconstruction of the insula and of the kitchen (I)
(M.A. Ricciardi)
View of the painted decoration of room H
View of the painted vault of room F
Detail of the painted decoration of room H
Painted imago clipeata (portrait on a round shield) in the thermopolium (J)
Detail of painted decoration of one of the environments
Detail of painted decoration, environment D
Detail of painted decoration of one of the environments