Villa of the Papyri

The villa's front stretched for more than 250 meters, parallel to the coastline of what is now called the Gulf of Naples. It was also surrounded by a garden closed off by porticoes, but with an ample stretch of vegetable gardens, vineyards and woods down to a small harbor. Sited a few hundred metres from the nearest house in Herculaneum, Piso's home had four levels disposed in a series of terraces on the sloping site, and was one of the most luxurious houses in all of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The villa also housed a collection of 80 sculptures of magnificent quality, many now conserved in the rooms of the large bronzes at the Naples National Archaeological Museum. Among them is the bronze Seated Hermes, found at the villa in 1758.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa of the Papyri
• Page 57-58 - Greenblatt, S., 2011, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern: Norton, New York, 356p.