Plate XXVII - Frigidarium

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Plate XXVII is a view of the frigidarium of the thermae.

Some part of the vaulted roof remains, and shows that it was ornamented with yellow panels bordered with red.

The door on the left is the entrance from the court. That on the right shows a part of the circular natatio, and one of the schola or recesses. The window is not in the centre of the vault, nor is any thing very exactly symmetrical. The cornice is painted with griffins and lyres, now nearly effaced. The hole under the window was for the lamp.

Several holes in the wall on the left were filled by small rafters which supported shelves, on which were arranged the clothes of the visiters, or the towels of the establishment. The door on the right, half seen, opens into the tepidarium. It is not a little curious that the species of Titan on the right, under the window, seems to be using a vase of the shape usually assigned to Bacchus instead of a shield, as that god himself is said to have done, according to a Greek author named Aristides. Kulix anti aspidoV. A kulix was a cup with two handles, for the author found one at Athens with the name upon it : «This is the kulix of, etc».