Pompeii - House of the Faun

Atrium of the House of the Faun, with Faun!

This house contains (a replica now) the famous statue of the dancing faun. I saw a copy at Syon House back in the 1980's and I thought that the faun looked high. It's possible.

This house was huge with two peristyles it took up an entire block of land. It's a little hard to imagine as not much above ground level has survived. But still a little overwhelming.

The mosaic in the tablinium is also a copy, the original mosaic is in the archeological museum in Naples, though it still overwhelms. It is a magnificent piece of work. Full of action and depth, it records the battle of Alexander the Great and Darius II of Persia. I read once that it was thought that this was a copy of a well known Greek painting now lost to time. Sort of like having an etch-s-sketch of the Mona Lisa survive.

Mosaic of Alexander vs. Darius II (copy in situ)