"The House of the Griffins, one of the most significant luxury homes on Rome's Palatine hill to survive from the Republican era, is opening to the public for the first time since its discovery more than a century ago with a livestreamed on-site video tour. Visitors will stay in the atrium while a guide equipped with a video camera descends into the rooms below. The live video and audio will be shown on a state-of-the-art micro-perforated mesh covering on the wall."
"It was discovered in 1912 by archaeologist Giacomo Boni, director of the excavations of the Roman Forum. The house was named after one particularly notable decorative accent in a semi-circular lunette atop a wall: two white stucco griffins facing each other against a rich red background. The imagery was of Greek mythological origin, telegraphing the owner's education and wealth. The frescoes on the wall are some of the most elaborate extant examples of late Republican decoration, featuring architectural illusions of colonnades, pilasters and marble inlays."
The House of the Griffins is a late Republican luxury domus on Rome's Palatine, built between the late 2nd and mid-1st century B.C. The ground floor and hypogeum preserve vivid polychrome frescoed walls and mosaic floors featuring architectural illusions, marble inlays, and geometric marble panels. The top floors were destroyed during the Augustan era and later intersected by Domitian's Flavian Palace; builders filled surviving spaces with soil, preserving decoration. The house was discovered in 1912 by archaeologist Giacomo Boni and named for two white stucco griffins in a lunette, signaling Greek-derived imagery and owner wealth. Public access will be via a livestreamed on-site video tour.
Read at www.thehistoryblog.com
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