(Fröhlich 1991: 22–7) – the archaeological evidence confirms the existence of
household shrines and gives an insight into various other aspects of religious activ-
ity in the house, especially in the case of the cities buried by Vesuvius (Boyce 1937;
Orr 1978; Fröhlich 1991).
The media closely related to the domestic cult were paintings and statuettes. There
is a marked difference in attitude and pretension between the mythological paint-
ings in the rooms open to visitors and larariumpaintings installed in service areas,
although they were often done by the same painters (Fröhlich 1991: 93–106; Wallace-
Hadrill 1994: 38 – 44). Larariumpaintings often follow a rather strict pattern with
a defined number and type of elements, as is shown for instance at the House of the
Vettii (VI 15.1): the central figure of the togate Genius, the living spirit of the pater
familias, is framed by the Lares, two dancing youths holding each a rhytonof wine;
below there is a huge serpent to which most likely a protecting and evil-averting
function was attributed (Boyce 1937: 54 no. 211; Fröhlich 1991: 279 L70). Thus,
the scene is not at all tied up with traditional mythology but is entirely Roman: the
Geniustakes on the type of a Roman priest whereas the Lares seem to be a genuine
Roman invention, influenced by neo-Attic types like the calathiscosdancers.198 Annemarie Kaufmann-HeinimannFigure 14.4 Mercury with money-bag and staff on a money-box from Italy (c. ad200).
Out of a large range of subjects, the potter, who stamped his product on the back of the
box, chose a topic to match the object’s function, Mercury being responsible for luck and
material welfare (photo: the Johns Hopkins University Archaeology Collection).ACTC14 26/04/2007 09:38 AM Page 198