La Casa "dei putti danzanti"

The “Domus dei Putti danzanti” is named after the polychrome mosaic with cupids found in the private dominus rooms. From a structural standpoint, it is possible to identify two main phases, which can be related to the beginning and to the end of the fourth century A.D. The absence of apsidal, octagonal, or hexagonal areas in this residence critically differs from what was generally attested for other luxury domus of this period, and may correspond to a conservatory attitude of the customer. The mosaic decoration, particularly the one of the first phase of the house, also shows an attempt to recall models and shapes of clearly classic origins, both in the decorative choice of the central field and in the surrounding stripes. In contrast, the decorative pattern chosen for the mosaics of the second phase seems more in line with the “fashion of the time”. For what concerns the wall-painting decoration, it is possible to notice a sort of general preference for plant subjects, but the most significant element to point out is the absence of frescos imitating fake marbles, greatly attested in the Cisalpina region between the third and the fourth century A.D. This kind of decoration is testified also in the Basilica Teodosiana of Aquileia, and particularly in the panels of the northern Aula, dated to the beginning of the fourth century A.D.