Children’s drawings discovered on walls of a house in Pompeii

The drawings were discovered in the “Casa dei casti amanti” (House of the chaste lovers), a house in the ancient city and named after the fresco inside depicting two lovers kissing.

These are sketches of gladiators, animals and hunters drawn by a child with charcoal on the walls of a courtyard. The imprint of a small hand was also discovered. This suggests that the drawings were made by a child of around five years old with charcoal from the kitchen of the house.

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“We found figures of gladiators, boxers, hunters and animals. And then the hand of a child, which we estimate to be from a one or five-year-old. Thanks to a study with experts in child neuropsychiatry at the Federico II University of Naples, we have determined that these stylized figures could actually have been drawn by a child of that age,” stressed Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii excavations, in a conversation with journalists.

Children exposed to severe violence

The drawings clearly show that children in Pompeii were exposed to severe forms of violence, as they regularly saw scenes of fights between gladiators and animals in the arena.

In addition to the children’s drawings, the remains of two victims, a woman and a man, who were caught at work by the volcanic eruption, were also discovered in the “House of Chaste Lovers”. The house, which was otherwise inaccessible, is now open to visitors again and can be viewed along a path on wooden walkways.

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The ancient city of Pompeii was located at the foot of the volcano Vesuvius. During eruptions in 79 AD, ash, mud and lava buried the settlements and partially preserved the city. Pompeii was rediscovered in the 18th century. The archaeological site, which continues to reveal sensational finds, is one of the most popular sights in Italy and is one of the country’s most important tourist attractions.