The Inn of the Peacock

The quality and variety of the paintings in the House of Hercules is astonishing, but even more their location: one does not expect to find large paintings with architectural motifs, rows of deities and judicial scenes in shops. But what is a shop? In modern Italian cities we can see that shops are used not only to sell goods, but also as small workshops and for storage. A shop is just a large rectangular room that can be used for many purposes. Could the shops along the inner square have been a showroom of the Ostian painters, where customers could see real examples of what the painters could do for them?

There are a few features to support this hypothesis. The painting of Fortuna has a diagonal top, that is accentuated by a wide painted band. There is however no trace of a diagonal, masonry structure above the painting on the photo which shows it in situ. This suggests the use of wooden planks. The rectangular shape of the painting on the north-west wall of room 22 is surprising. Here too we may think of wooden planks. It makes sense to use such light structures, easily removed, in a showroom.

Another remarkable feature is the paint on two relieving arches in corridor 4. The bricks were painted red and the mortar white. The illusion of very thin mortar layers is created by white lines between the red paint, the latter also on the mortar. The same effect is found in a few other places in Ostia, such as the facade of the shrine in the House of the Sacellum (IV,V,4) and the aedicula in the House of the Lararium (V,VIII,1-4). Real examples of extremely thin mortar layers are found in the Porta Romana necropolis. It is remarkable that the illusion is also found here, in a narrow corridor, a simple passage. It may have served as yet another example of what the painters could do.

Painted relieving arches in corridor 4. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

Painted relieving arches in corridor 4: detail. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

If we really see the remains of a showroom, then the office of these painters must have been nearby. The Inn of the Peacock immediately comes to mind, a building that is famous because of its paintings, made between the end of the second century and the middle of the third. The building is little known to the general public, because it has been closed for a long time. It is situated slightly to the north-west of the House of Hercules. The plan is not clearly organized, and does not suggest a house or an apartment. An internal bar was installed in a back room, which is unique in Ostia. This has suggested to some that it had become a hotel, in which food and drink was offered on the ground floor. However, in spite of the extensive plaster, the only graffito is on the inside of the bar counter: VIC or VLC.

A latrine and the entrance corridor of the Inn of the Peacock, seen from inside. Photo: ICCD neg. E040946.

The internal bar counter. Photo: ICCD neg. E040937.

Could this have been the main office of the painters, where more examples of paintings could be seen on the walls and on parchment, and where the business deal was made, while a drink was offered to the customer? The building was named after a small shrine with the depiction of a peacock, placed in a corner of a little courtyard. The peacock is related to the cult of Dionysus, and a symbol of immortality. I do not know of any parallels for this reference to the afterlife in private shrines. But it makes sense if we realize that the painters were active not only in the city, but also (and perhaps even more) in tombs. The painters may have felt that they contributed in a significant way to the afterlife of the deceased, by painting in the tombs the works of Hercules, Dionysiac motifs, mythological scenes, animals and flowers.

The aedicula with a painting of a peacock, in the little courtyard. Photo: ICCD neg. E040939.

It is furthermore noteworthy that several painters from the same workshop were active in the building at the same time. One has been called the 'Old Master', continuing tradition, another the 'New Master', exploring new roads. A showpiece of this 'New Master' were paintings in a room that is so tiny (1.70 x 3.20 m.) that it is difficult to find a practical purpose for it.

A tiny room in the Inn of the Peacock, with paintings made by the 'New Master'. Photo: ICCD neg. E040984.

Technical work may also have taken place in the block, such as preparing the plaster and pigments. Here we can think of Edificio IV,II,7, with rooms grouped around a courtyard with a basin, and the rooms to the west of Caseggiato IV,II,5.

The Ostian painters are mentioned in a funerary inscription, in which they call themselves collegae pingentes (CIL XIV, 4699). It gives us the name of one painter: Publius Ragonius Erotianus. D(is) M(anibus) P(ubli) RAGONI EROTIANI COLLEGAE PINGENTES Cébeillac-Gervasoni - Caldelli - Zevi 2010, fig. 91.

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