Pompeii Casts. Victim 6 found 4th March 1871 in the roadway at the north-east corner of IX.3.

According to Giornale degli Scavi, n.s.2, (4 March 1871), p.281 –

“In the lane to the north of the House of M. Lucretius where it intersects with the other lane parallel to the Strada Stabiana (now called Vicolo di Tesmo), there was found a human skeleton, of which an impression was made in gesso. Near it was found a small star in gold, composed of six rays ending in garnets, one of which was missing. The star was 22mm in diameter.”

Victim 6 was probably male aged over 20 years old.

The body was found along the vicolo between the insulas 3 and 4 of Regio IX, on the 4th of March 1871.

Imprints at waist level, on the front side, perhaps correspond to a belt with a large (?) central buckle. Descriptions from the time the cast was made mention the presence of sandals on the feet, which is not clearly identifiable on the preserved [right] foot.

The victim wore a ring on the left hand. Near the body a gold pendant in the shape of a six-pointed star adorned with semi-precious stones was also found.

See Osanna, N., Capurso, A., e Masseroli, S. M., 2021. I Calchi di Pompei da Giuseppe Fiorelli ad oggi: Studi e Ricerche del PAP 46, p. 330-1, Calco n. 6.

Plaster-cast of victim 6.

In his description of this plaster-cast in his Guida di Pompei, 1877, Fiorelli described –

“Man, no.6 lying on his back, with legs spread apart, his right arm extended, and his left hand near his belt, with sandals on his feet and a ring on his finger.

From his face he would appear to be an African. (Reg. IX, insula III, via secunda).

See Fiorelli, Guida di Pompei, [Rome, 1877,] p.88-89.

See Dwyer, E., 2010. Pompeii’s Living Statues. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, (p.93).

Victim 6, found on the north-east corner of Insula III of Region IX, where the unnamed roadway meets the Vicolo di Tesmo.

Photo courtesy of Eugene Dwyer.

Neville-Rolfe wrote in 1888 –

“The next cast is also of a man, and probably of a slave, from the low type of his face, and his receding forehead.

If the raised band encircling his body is a belt, it would be a further indication of his servile condition.

Some have conjectured that this elevation is not a belt but was caused by the bursting of the corpse.

The right hand is firmly clasped and the expression of the mouth is one of extreme agony.

The left hand is on the belt, and the legs are extended.”

See Neville-Rolfe E., 1888. Pompeii popular and practical. Naples: Furcheim, (p.82).

Victim 6, found on the north-east corner of Insula III of Region IX, where the unnamed roadway meets the Vicolo di Tesmo.

Photo courtesy of Eugene Dwyer.

Victim 6, photographed by Brogi (no. 5574) in a display case in the museum. Photo courtesy of Eugene Dwyer.