A list of a few of the principal paintings and mosaics in this house will suffice to show the taste of its occupant.
Cave Canem. Mosaic at entrance.
In atrium, on right wall, next to entrance, The Marriage of Peleus and Thetis. On side wall, right hand, The Parting of Achilles and Briseis. On same wall, separated only by a door, The Departure of Chryseis. Opposite to the parting of Achilles and Briseis was represented The Fall of Icarus. In a cubiculum on this side was the small frieze of Battle of Amazons (copied in the Atrium of Pompeian Court, [page 47]). The tablinum was adorned with a picture of A Poet reading, and the mosaic pavement representing The Choragus and Actors. In a little chamber to the left of tablinum was a small picture of Venus fishing. At the end of ambulatory of peristyle near triclinium was the famous picture of The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, painted on the wall adjoining the oven of the Fullonica. The Deserted Ariadne ([page 57]) adorned a small chamber to the left of the peristyle. The opposite side of the peristyle was occupied by the kitchen, latrina, and triclinium, which latter contained the exquisite picture of Leda presenting her Infant Progeny to Tyndareus; hence this apartment is sometimes called the Chamber of Leda. Other pictures in the same room are Venus, Cupid, and Adonis, and an elaborate composition of Theseus deserting Ariadne. He is in the act of stepping on board a ship, where sailors are making ready for departure. Ariadne lies asleep on the shore; her head is surrounded with a blue circular glory, which is not uncommon in Pompeian paintings. Many of these pictures are on a comparatively large scale, and only equalled in artistic excellence by those which have been discovered in the houses of the Dioscuri and of Ceres, one of the smallest houses in Pompeii. It has only one ala (plan given in Mus. Bor., vol. ii., tav. 55, and in Gell, vol. i., pl. 35, p. 143).
1. House of Joseph II.
2. House of the Tragic Poet, or, House of the Homeric Paintings.
3. House of Queen Caroline.
