THE EXEDRA

The exedra was a large, elegant room usually located off the peristyle garden. It was used for formal entertainments and lavish dinner parties. The wall paintings in this type of room often continue the garden theme, as does this elaborate mosaic floor whose centerpiece depicts Selene, goddess of the moon, falling in love with the sleeping Endymion, a handsome young shepherd. See this cutaway view of the back of the house from the composite model in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, including a view of the exedra from the top