POMPEIANA de William Gell (éd. de 1832)

Plate VI - Door of a house

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Plate VI represents the door of a house, apparently of some consequence, in the Street of the Merchants. There are many portals which seem to have been, in size and effect, more imposing than this, but their architraves, being of timber, have disappeared, so that scarcely any other specimen remains. The mouldings seem such as might be considered those of the Ionic order, and the whole is not without a certain air of solidity and pretension to architecture which may recommend it to imitation. The house has not yet been laid open, but probably it was a mansion of the first class.

A monkey playing on the double pipes seems painted on the right as guardian of the entry. A staircase probably ascended from the portal to the upper rooms, and a small window may be observed which admitted the light.

In the foreground maybe remarked some of those great blocks, or stepping-stones, which seem to have served, among other uses, for the prevention of carriages in the street. The carts of the excavators are enabled to pass by means of heaps of earth forming two inclined planes of ascent and descent.