HOUSE OF MYSTERIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 85, 11 April 1931, Page 7 (Supplement)

HOUSE OF MYSTERIES.

POMPEII'S LATEST SPLENDOUR. MARVEL OF ANCIENT ' PAINTING* \ t- *• ! IMPORTANT STATUARY FDHX ' ROME, February 25. Under the magic -wand of Professor Amedeo Maiuri, director of excavations, Pompeii is literally; rising from its I ashes: ' • "Like that strange song I heard Apollo sing When Ilien, like a mist, rose Into towers." Perhaps the most important of all the hidden monuments, for such, they may be called from an archaeological and historical point of view, is the ''House of Mysteries," which Professor Maiuri has now almost completely brought to light, while the magnificent frescoes adorning the marble halls of what was once the residence of some Pompeian millionaire have been restored by experts to their original splendour, so that they may be regarded as the most perfect specimens of ancient painting which have come down to us. The villa or House of Mysteries is beautifully situated on a sxm-kissed'hill standing in solitary grandeur just beyond the walls which guard the dead city, and must have been surrounded by gardens and vineyards and rare ornamental plants, such as Pliny so accurately describes. As regards the rather weird name which has been given to it by archaeologists it is derived from the fact that the real meaning of the "Dionysiac megalography," a series of marvellous pabitings which decorate the "triclinium," have hitherto not been* satis-'

factorily explained, although it is evident that they have a religious or occult significance, illustrating the Orphic or Dionysiac cult. Vivid Life-sized Figures. A careful study of the "House of Mysteries" reveals that it was undergoing a process of renovation or of reconstruction when the Vesuvian catastrophe submerged it, because half of the house, is decorated, while the walls of the other half are bare. The decorated part is the eastern half of the villa, consiting of a spacious "triclinium," two cubicles and a great rectangular hall, adorned with some of the finest paintings hitherto discovered in Pompeii.

It is evident that the owner was deeply imbued with the spirit of Hellenism, for there is an aesthetic charm in the pure elegant design of his mansion which could hardly have been surpassed in Athens itself. The "peristillium," with its numerous marble: columns connected by a massive "pluteum" of brickwork, give one an impression of great magnificence, and a singular sense of harmony pervades the whole building, as if it were an old-time symphony turned to stone. The fresco paintings in -the "triclinium," with their extraordinary vivid and powerfully designed life-sized figures, at once attract our interest and admiration. They are eminently "dynamic," as painters of the modern school would say, and belong to the second Pompeian period. "There can be little doubt," said Professor Maiuri, during a short interview which I was privileged to have with him, that we have here a representation of the mysteries of Dionysos, as there was a mystic significance in the songs which, while celebrating the joys and sorrows of Bacchus, symbolise the alternate phases of life in nature, which dies in winter and joyfully resurrects in spring. But paintings in the "triclinium" have an occult and transcendental meaning which does not differ much from the spirit of the Christian mysteries. In fact the "Megalography" is meant to signify that man can only achieve happiness through suffering and self-sacrifice.

The Mystic Ritual. The most outstanding figure in the whole series of mural paintings is a beautiful young, woman, evidently a symbol of the soul. In the scene cf the "Vestition" she is draped in a "Syndone" and closely veiled in the "Catechesis," while a youth, wearing the emblems of the dionysiac cult, reads the ritual of the mystic service from a scroll. Then there are the scenes of the "Agape" or love feast, servants busily handing round xitjial and wsss focj

the libation, followed by the "Annunciation," in which the mysterious young woman appears to be terrorised at the ordeal she will have to undergo. In the "Flagellation" she faces the supreme passion of mystic death and finality; in the "Resurrection" we see her come to life again as a Bacchante, dancing naked to the strains of wild dionysiac melodies. "These scenes of martyrdom and transfiguration, human grief culminating in an explosion of almost tragic joy, together with the solemn liturgical service, have a striking affinity with £he Christian rituaL" A Marvellous Statue.

Continuing his excavations in the House of Mysteries, Professor Maiuri had the good fortune to make another most important discovery. While removing the deep layer of volcanic lapilli which completely obstructed the great peristylium, a marvellous statue came to light; it represents a Roman matron, draped in a mantle which covers her head and a rich stola which descends in elegant folds to the ground; the features have a dignified, but very sweet, expression; the arch of the Roman nose is very pronounced, and it was this particular, mentioned by the historian Svetonius, which at once led Professor Maiuri to conclude that he was in the presence of a portrait statue of Livia, the beautiful and virtuous wife of the Emperor Augustus, "genere, probitate, forma Romanorum eminentissima," as Velleius says. Professor Maiuri described to me in vivid terms the intense emotion he felt as he saw the gleaming white statue gradually emerging from the funereal pall of jet black lapilli which had covered it for nearly 2000 years.

The statue is one metre 85 centimetres high (about 6ft) and in lunensa marble of dazzling whiteness. Fortunately it is in an almost perfect state of preservation, the only damage it has sustained being the loss of the right hand, with two fingers detached, which, however, has been recovered among the lapilli and will be put in its place by expert restorers. Indeed, it may be regarded as almost miraculous that this fine statue, which has not only an artistic but also a great historic value, should have escaped almost scathless from the catastrophe in which so many works of art of priceless value perished.

It is strange that the head, which must have been a most perfect likeness,

is detached from the body of the statue but has been fixed on the shoulders by means of plaster. Tribute of Gratitude. The draping is almost hieratic in its austerity, and bears traces of red paint, so that it is not improbable that it was originally coloured in order to represent the imperial purple. Seen in profile, the face presents a most striking resemblance to Queen Helena of Italy. The calm expression and haughty pose tend to confirm the opinion that we are in the presence of one of the finest portraits of the Empress Livia hitherto discovered, superior to those existing at Copenhagen, in the Ashr molean Museum, in the National Museum of Naples, in the collection of Holkham Hall, at the Prade in Madrid, etc. The artist has represented a Livia somewhat passed middle age, as the flabbiness of the lines around the mouth and* chin show, but there is great character in the somewhat cold expression, that character which enabled Livia, after a series of tragic vicissitudes, to place Tiberius on the Imperial throne when Augustus died. In spite of her agitated existence, the Empress Livia lived to be 80, and died in 29 A.D.

It is not unlikely that the last owner of the House of Mysteries, a rich freedman named Lucius Istacidius Zesimus, had formerly been a slave in the Imperial palace; perhaps he owed his freedom to Livia, and in order to show liis gratitude he placed the statue of the Empress in the peristylium of his mansion as a household goddess. Professor Maiuri is actively pushing on the work of excavation in the House of Mysteries. Besides removing the lava and lapilli from the principal entrance to the sumptuous villa, he has now begun to explore the "cella vinaria," or wine cellar, the "tercularium," or wine press, having already come to light in a perfect state of preservation. "I hope, he said, "to have many other pleasant surprises after the epoch-making discoveries of the Dionysiac paintings and of the statue of Livia, because at Pompeii the unexpected always happens."—(N.A.N. A. Copyright.)