In Fondo Caiazzo, there are a series of Roman-era funerary hypogea, equipped along the walls with several rows of niches. In the arcosolium of the third chamber of one of them, part of the usual seat for the meal in honor of the deceased is still visible in situ. In the first two rooms, the presence of dry stone walls that delimit burial boxes testifies to a reuse in late antiquity. Of the group of hypogea, only the two largest feature rich white stucco decoration covering the walls and the vault, despite cuts made over time to remove the most valuable figurative reliefs. The decoration, common to both hypogea, follows a scheme formed by geometric elements, often arranged concentrically around a panel or floating figures. All the larger panels, bordered by a thin ovolo cornice, contain a figurative relief, generally inspired by Dionysian themes; one can recognize dancing Maenads among pavilions supported by pseudo-architectural structures and other genre subjects reproducing iconographic types common in Roman painting. Other recurring themes in the decoration of both chambers include scenes with winged Erotes engaged in hunting or associated with dolphins, aquatic monsters, and other sea creatures. The outer part of the funerary shrines, placed in the center of free walls, must have been supported by columns, of which fragments remain, also stuccoed and adorned with vegetal motifs.
Information on Hypogea of Fondo Caiazzo
Via Nuova Campania
80078 Pozzuoli (Naples)
0815266007
sar-cam.pozzuoli@beniculturali.it
https://sba-na.campaniabeniculturali.it
Source: MIBACT
