Condition Assessment - Regio IX, Insula 12
The photomosaic image below shows the condition of Regio IX, Insula 12 at the time it was photographed in 2005. The city block is 34.11 meters in length. The facade was excavated in 1912 and some of the interior spaces were excavated in 1987 and 1990. There are seven entrances: three shops, two stairways to upper story apartments and two houses or inns or taverns (exact use uncertain). The west half of the facade (on left) was badly damaged during WW II and thereafter rebuilt. The walls were constructed of opus incertum (stone rubble embedded in concrete) with piers of ashlar blocks, opus testaceum (fired brick) and opus vittatum (alternating brickwork and tufa blocks) and the westernmost corner of ashlar block. The unusual second floor displays half-round carved tufa columns. The east end of the insula was less damaged by the bombing. The walls were constructed primarily in opus incertum with piers of ashlar block, opus vittatum simplex (rectangular tufa blocks) and opus testaceum. The balcony on the side of the west end and the balcony on the front of the east end are opus craticium (timber framework).
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This elevation drawing of the city block was created by Alberto Sanarica for Vittorio Spinazzola and shows the condition of Regio IX, Insula 12 after it was excavated in 1912. The dark shaded areas of the drawing represent the portions actually excavated, the lighter shaded areas represent restorations and the single lines are hypothetical additions.
This elevation drawing of the city block was also created by Alberto Sanarica. It is a hypothetical reconstruction of the west end of the insula and does not identify those portions that were actually found.
[Both drawings are from Pompei alla luce degli scavi nuovi di Via dell'Abbondanza (anni 1910-1923) by Vittorio Spinazzola. Permission to display this image has been granted as a courtesy by the publisher, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome. These images may NOT be copied or reproduced in any manner without the permission of the publisher.]
Under the supervision of Vittorio Spinazzola, restoration techniques were developed to carefully consolidate and reconstruct the upper stories and facades of the buildings as they were excavated, starting at the top and continuing downward. This methodology is demonstrated in the two photographs above. The image on the left shows the excavated and partially reconstructed second story of the west end of Regio IX, Insula 12. The photograph on the right shows the same section of the city block after the ground floor level had been unearthed.
This photograph above, on the left, shows the west end of the city block after its excavation and restoration. There is little wall plaster or decoration. A section of the photomosaic, on the right, shows its condition in 2005. This portion of the block was rebuilt after being bombed during WW II.
The 1916 photograph on the left, above, shows the wall paintings surrounding Regio IX, Insula 12, Doorway 7 soon after its excavation and restoration. There is decoration on both sides of the entrance and remnants of a second story balcony. Much of the original wall plaster has perished or faded, as can be seen from a section of the photomosaic, on the right. The east end of the city block is now covered with a roof to protect excavations carried out on the interior of the structures starting in 1987. The restored balconies now are supported by scaffolding.
The photograph on the left, above, shows Regio IX, Insula 12 after Pompeii was bombed in 1943. The west end of the block was hit which destroyed most of the facade. The undated photograph on the right shows the structure after it was rebuilt after the end of the war.
The charcoal drawing on the left, above, was created by Alberto Sanarica for Vittorio Spinazzola and is a hypothetical reconstruction of Regio IX, Insula 12. The watercolor on the right, also by Alberto Sanarica, is a hypothetical reconstruction of the wall paintings surrounding Doorway 7. Although the artwork was based upon evidence encountered during the excavations, much of the information is conjecture.
[Permission to display the five black and white photographs above has been granted by the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali – Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei. These images may NOT be copied or reproduced in any manner.]
[The photograph of the WWII bomb damage is courtesy of Mr. Drew Baker, ©Jackie and Bob Dunn www.pompeiinpictures.com]
[The images of the watercolor and charcoal drawing above are from Pompei alla luce degli scavi nuovi di Via dell'Abbondanza (anni 1910-1923) by Vittorio Spinazzola. Permission to display these images has been granted as a courtesy by the publisher, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome. These images may NOT be copied or reproduced in any manner without the permission of the publisher.]