The “Isiac Ceremonies” in the Paintings from Herculaneum: MANN, Inv. 8924 and 8919. A Reappraisal

The two paintings from Herculaneum (MANN, inv. 8919 and 8924), found in 1745 during the Bourbon excavations, have been the subject of numerous analyses, as they are two of the few examples of Roman imperial paintings that document Isiac ceremonies in considerable detail; interpretations of them vary from author to author, sometimes quite considerably, and, to date, no common or even widely shared opinion has been reached. Yet, given their considerable documentary value, I found it useful to tackle their analysis again, thanks also to the opportunity to observe them on high-definition digital photographs, kindly made available by the MANN Photographic Archive. The study starts with an analytical description of the two paintings, which will form the basis for a new series of reflections on some of the issues debated and still unresolved: a)The identification of the ceremonies depicted and, consequently, the level of reliability and the actual documentary value of the two scenes; b) The identification of the figures involved; c) The number and arrangement of the paintings in the original architectural space, which most scholars believe must have been domestic in nature; d) The identification of the buildings depicted, a subject that is generally only mentioned briefly, despite the considerable architectural differences between them.