Another strikingly modern feature of these multifamily resi-
dences is their brick facades, which were not concealed by stucco or
marble veneers. When a classical motif was desired, builders could
add brick pilasters or engaged columns, but always left the brick ex-
posed. Ostia and Rome have many examples of apartment houses,
warehouses, and tombs with intricate moldings and contrasting col-
ors of brick. In the second century CE, brick came to be appreciated
as attractive in its own right.
BATHS OF NEPTUNEAlthough the decoration of Ostian in-
sulae tended to be more modest than that of the private houses of
Pompeii, the finer apartments had mosaic floors and painted walls
and ceilings. The most popular choice for elegant pavements at Ostia
in both private and public edifices was the black-and-white mosaic.
One of the largest and best-preserved examples is in the so-called
Baths of Neptune, named for the grand mosaic floor (FIG. 10-55)
showing four seahorses pulling the Roman god of the sea across the
waves. Neptune needs no chariot to support him as he speeds along,
his mantle blowing in the strong wind. All about the god are other sea
denizens, positioned so that wherever a visitor enters the room, some
figures appear right side up. The second-century artist rejected the
complex polychrome modeling of figures seen in Pompeian mosaics
such as Battle of Issus (FIG. 5-70) and used simple black silhouettes
enlivened by white interior lines. Roman artists conceived black-and-
white mosaics as surface decorations, not as three-dimensional win-
dows, and thus they were especially appropriate for floors.
ISOLA SACRAThe tombs in Ostia’s Isola Sacra cemetery were
usually constructed of brick-faced concrete, and the facades of these
houses of the dead resembled those of the contemporary insulae of
the living. These were normally communal tombs, not the final rest-
ing places of the very wealthy. Many of them were adorned with
small painted terracotta plaques immortalizing the activities of mid-
dle-class merchants and professional people. A characteristic exam-
ple (FIG. 10-56) depicts a vegetable seller behind a counter. The
artist had little interest in the Classical-revival style of contemporary
imperial art and tilted the counter forward so that the observer can
see the produce clearly. Such scenes of daily life appear on Roman
funerary reliefs all over Europe. They were as much a part of the
artistic legacy to the later history of Western art as the monuments
of the Roman emperors, which until recently were the exclusive in-
terest of art historians.10-55Neptune and creatures of the
sea, detail of a floor mosaic in the Baths
of Neptune, Ostia,Italy, ca. 140 ce.
Black-and-white floor mosaics were very
popular during the second and third
centuries. The artists conceived them as
surface decorations, not as illusionistic
compositions meant to rival paintings.10-56Funerary relief of a vegetable vendor, from Ostia, Italy,
second half of second century ce.Painted terracotta, 1 5 high. Museo
Ostiense, Ostia.
Terracotta plaques illustrating the activities of middle-class merchants
frequently adorned Ostian tomb facades. In this relief of a vegetable
seller, the artist tilted the counter to display the produce clearly.1 in.High Empire 271