The House of the Chaste Lovers is one of the principal residences in Insula 12 of Regio IX and gave the entire block its modern name.
The name comes from the decoration of a triclinium, which contains three banquet scenes set at different times of the year. In the summer scene, a couple exchange a discreet kiss during the meal—the gesture that led archaeologists to call them the “Chaste Lovers”.
The house was closely connected with a substantial bakery. The complex preserves its oven, the mills used to grind grain into flour, and the stables where the working animals were kept. Excavations uncovered the skeletons of several equids used to turn the mills and transport grain.
The combination of elegant living quarters, a painted triclinium and areas devoted to bread production vividly shows how domestic life and economic activity could coexist within a single property in first-century AD Pompeii.
In AD 79, renovation work was underway throughout the insula. Its walls, installations and decorations show that several projects were still in progress when the eruption abruptly brought all activity to an end.
Recent excavations have also resumed the study of the stables and the animals buried by the eruption, providing new evidence about working conditions, diet and the organisation of the bakery.
The House of the Chaste Lovers is therefore an exceptional source of information not only about Pompeian domestic art and architecture, but also about the organisation of work and daily life in the city.
