Greeting the visitor : A contextualising study of fauces-mosaics in Pompeii
(2022)- Abstract
- The focus for this study is the collection of mosaic-floors that adorn the entrances, fauces, to atrium-houses around Pompeii. The aim is to further our understanding of the Roman view of transitional spaces, in this case the private house-entrance between the inside and the outside world. Contemporary approaches to Pompeian studies regard space and décor as closely intertwined components, which suggests that the designs for an entrance-decoration were intended to convey an appropriate message. Ever since the early excavations of Pompeii, especially the figurative fauces-mosaics have been recognised, leaving the non-figurative mosaics less emphasised (and still so today), although outnumbering the others.
In order... (More) - The focus for this study is the collection of mosaic-floors that adorn the entrances, fauces, to atrium-houses around Pompeii. The aim is to further our understanding of the Roman view of transitional spaces, in this case the private house-entrance between the inside and the outside world. Contemporary approaches to Pompeian studies regard space and décor as closely intertwined components, which suggests that the designs for an entrance-decoration were intended to convey an appropriate message. Ever since the early excavations of Pompeii, especially the figurative fauces-mosaics have been recognised, leaving the non-figurative mosaics less emphasised (and still so today), although outnumbering the others.
In order to provide a more holistic and nuanced picture, the present study is based on several contextualising steps, which take into account the (rather low) number of fauces-mosaics (in 29 houses); the houses’ topographical distribution within the city; their sizes and general interior decoration-level; the fauces-passages’ spatial design and layout; the temporal framework of the fauces-mosaics (ranging between c. 100 B.C. to A.D. 79) and the iconographical subject-matter of the mosaics. The results of the study show that certain clusters can be discerned, particularly so of a “fashion” for fauces-mosaics in the large terrace-houses during the late Republic. Moreover, many of the mosaic-motifs alluded to mundane matters instead of religious, and the general attitude to the outside world was one centred around a positive and greeting communication. By laying a fauces-mosaic, a house-owner intentionally conveyed that his or her house was worthy of attention. Nevertheless, it is also clear that a superstitious perception of the entrance acknowledged its need of protection. In some cases, defending symbols on the mosaics do point to such a paradoxical awareness of the owners.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/5e60dfbc-3168-4a36-883e-3cab34a3e0cf
- author
- Kärfve, Fanny LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Senior Lecturer Shelley Hales, University of Bristol
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-03-18
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Pompeii, mosaics, fauces, entrances, atrium-houses, Interior decoration, display, emulation, protection, liminal spaces, mortar-floors
- edition
- 1
- pages
- 406 pages
- publisher
- Lunds universitet, Media-Tryck
- defense location
- LUX C121
- defense date
- 2022-03-18 13:15:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-89415-14-0
- 978-91-89415-13-3
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 5e60dfbc-3168-4a36-883e-3cab34a3e0cf
- date added to LUP
- 2022-02-18 13:37:04
- date last changed
- 2022-02-18 15:33:01
@phdthesis{5e60dfbc-3168-4a36-883e-3cab34a3e0cf,
abstract = {{The focus for this study is the collection of mosaic-floors that adorn the entrances,<i> fauces</i>, to <i>atrium</i>-houses around Pompeii. The aim is to further our understanding of the Roman view of transitional spaces, in this case the private house-entrance between the inside and the outside world. Contemporary approaches to Pompeian studies regard space and décor as closely intertwined components, which suggests that the designs for an entrance-decoration were intended to convey an appropriate message. Ever since the early excavations of Pompeii, especially the figurative <i>fauces</i>-mosaics have been recognised, leaving the non-figurative mosaics less emphasised (and still so today), although outnumbering the others. <br/>In order to provide a more holistic and nuanced picture, the present study is based on several contextualising steps, which take into account the (rather low) number of <i>fauces</i>-mosaics (in 29 houses); the houses’ topographical distribution within the city; their sizes and general interior decoration-level; the <i>fauces</i>-passages’ spatial design and layout; the temporal framework of the <i>fauces</i>-mosaics (ranging between c. 100 B.C. to A.D. 79) and the iconographical subject-matter of the mosaics. The results of the study show that certain clusters can be discerned, particularly so of a “fashion” for <i>fauces</i>-mosaics in the large terrace-houses during the late Republic. Moreover, many of the mosaic-motifs alluded to mundane matters instead of religious, and the general attitude to the outside world was one centred around a positive and greeting communication. By laying a <i>fauces</i>-mosaic, a house-owner intentionally conveyed that his or her house was worthy of attention. Nevertheless, it is also clear that a superstitious perception of the entrance acknowledged its need of protection. In some cases, defending symbols on the mosaics do point to such a paradoxical awareness of the owners. <br/>}},
author = {{Kärfve, Fanny}},
isbn = {{978-91-89415-14-0}},
keywords = {{Pompeii; mosaics; fauces; entrances; atrium-houses; Interior decoration; display; emulation; protection; liminal spaces; mortar-floors}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
publisher = {{Lunds universitet, Media-Tryck}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Greeting the visitor : A contextualising study of <i>fauces-</i>mosaics in Pompeii}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/114267371/Fanny_K_rfve_diss.pdf}},
year = {{2022}},
}