Italian Marble at MarbleFilm.com

• Italian Marble use at Pompeii
• House of the Vettii
• Thasian dolomitic marble

HOUSE OF THE VETTII

In 1999 I returned to an idea from 1992 about the House of the Vettii (now published; see the web presentation). I had been struck by the large assemblage of basins and fountains in white marble in the peristyle garden and wondered how many varieties were present and why. With the maturation of techniques of scientific analysis and identification it was now possible to take samples (with the support and encouragement of the Superintendency, which is sponsoring its own systematic investigation of italian marble house by house). In collaboration with Lorenzo Lazzarini (IUAV, Venice), a number of marble varieties were in fact identified, as well as three grays. My basic idea (read the grant proposal to the American Philosophical Society, to whom many thanks) that the Vettii were trying to impress by amassing many kinds of white marble was generally supported, but specific results, such as the unexpected prominence of Paros 2 marble, were also welcome. As part of the Vettii project samples were also taken from the garden triclinium of the Casa del Bracciale d'oro, but since the results took a longer route to reach me than the ones from the Vettii garden, they will be published separately (in the proceedings of the VIIth ASMOSIA conference held on Thasos in September of 2003). Here Paros 2 again turned up where from the translucency and color I had expected Parian lychnites.