Villa Diomedes Project. Archives of the Villa of Diomedes in Pompeii (1771-2019)

By
Helene DESSALES (Teacher-researcher/ ENS-PSL)
Agnes TRICOCHE (Research/ CNRS)
Julien CAVERO (Research/ CNRS)
, updated on
19 October 2021
Image
diomedes
Share

This website gives access to the archives linked to the Villa of Diomedes in Pompeii, from the documentation of the initial excavation in the 18th century (1771-1775), to the field data produced by the archaeological mission of the Villa Diomedes Project program, under the direction of Hélène Dessales (2012-2019)

Image
diomedes

The Villa Diomedes Project accompanies the first monograph devoted to the villa: H. Dessales (ed.), The Villa of Diomedes: the making of a Roman villa in Pompeii, Paris, 2020.

The documentation is collected in two databases:

IMAGES database

The body of previous archives

It includes all the graphic (plans, sections, elevations, perspective views and copies of paintings) and photographic documentation, from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century. In total, more than 550 documents of a very diverse nature have been gathered to date. It is the most significant body of work by architects and artists accumulated on a Pompeii building.

The field photographs

The complete photographic coverage of the villa (more than 5000 photos) was produced by photographer Thomas Crognier between 2013 and 2016. In addition, 850 orthoimages, mainly taken as part of the Grande Progetto Pompei, as well as work photos produced by team members (2011-2019). Objects from the villa and kept in various museums are also found there.

Image
diomedes

AREAS database

Alignment of ten reference plans

The numbering of the villa's areas varies according to the plans that have been drawn up over time, making the bibliographic study and documentary cross-checking concerning it difficult. Here we provide a system for matching area numbers, from 10 building reference plans, from the initial excavation period of the 18th century, to the Villa Diomedes Project program (2010s).

Stratigraphic analysis of the building

The objective of the stratigraphic analysis of the building was to determine the relative chronology of the various construction sites of the villa. It was systematic in certain emblematic sectors of the evolution of the villa (front walls and south-eastern area of ​​the ground floor). From time to time, SU have also been allocated to other areas, in order to record traces of decor (paintings, mosaics) and thresholds.

This is raw data: the interpretations are necessarily less conceptualized than those proposed by the publication.

In addition to this set of documents, there is an interactive map, which constitutes a search tool in the Images database, by space.

Image
diomedes

Team

  • Publishing editor: Hélène DESSALES, Associate professor of classical archaeology, École normale supérieure (Département des Sciences de l'Antiquité, AOROC) - PSL
  • Responsible for databases, electronic publishing and website: Agnès TRICOCHE, Engineer at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Archaeology & Philology of the East and West Laboratory (AOROC) - CNRS ENS PSL
  • Collaboration on the interactive map: Julien CAVERO, Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée - Jean Pouilloux (MOM, FR3747)

Publications

H. Dessales, J. Ponce, A.-B. Pimpaud, A. Tricoche, "La villa de Diomède à Pompéi, du corpus d’archives à la modélisation 3D", in S. Zanella, J.-P. Brun, M. Denoyelle et al. (dir.), Les archives de fouilles : modes d’emploi, actes du colloque organisé par la Fondation Hugot du Collège de France, 27-28 novembre 2015, Paris, 2017. <hal-02291265>

H. Dessales (dir. technique), The Villa of Diomedes. The making of a Roman villa in Pompeii, Paris, 2020. <hal-03121738>