u/Capadauchabunny

(Marked NSFW for nudity) 

This opus vermiculatum mosaic from the Farnese Collection depicts a siren draped from her mid-torso, holding a hydria in her right hand, and supporting what appears to be a platter (with an unidentified object) on her head with the other. She wears golden bracelets on both wrists and a band-like necklace. By her feet, a small bird flies with its wings outstretched. In the top right is a Cupid wearing anklets holding a 3-legged stand/ornament/vase(?) with a rounded top. 

Greek hydriai have three handles: two horizontal ones on opposite sides below the shoulder and a longer vertical one (in between the former pair) connecting from the shoulder to the lip/neck. The one depicted in the mosaic appears to only have one handle and more closely resembles a (Roman style) pitcher/urceus. (examples: 1, 2, 3) 

The Sirens, daughters of the river god Achelous and one of the Muses, are described as young women/maidens with the plumage and feet of birds. 

Quotes on the sirens (in original Latin + Greek): 

>“[...] vobis, Acheloides, unde pluma pedesque avium, cum virginis ora geratis? [...] facilesque deos habuistis et artus vidistis vestros subitis flavescere pennis. Ne tamen ille canor mulcendas natus ad aures tantaque dos oris linguae deperderet usum, virginei vultus et vox humana remansit.” (Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5.552-562) 

>“ἄλλοι γε μὴν ποικίλοι καὶ οὐ πάνυ τι τὸ εἶδος εὔρητοι, μελῳδίαν δὲ καὶ εὐστομίαν καὶ εὐγλωττίαν ἄμαχοι, ὡς εἶναι, εἰ μή πη καὶ τραχύτερόν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, Σειρῆνάς τινας. κατάπτεροι γὰρ ὡς ἦσαν αἱ τοῦ μύθου κόραι, ποιηταί τε ᾄδουσιν καὶ ζωγράφοι δεικνύουσιν.” (Aelian, De Natura Animalium, 17.23) 

>“αἱ δὲ Σειρῆνες ἦσαν Ἀχελῴου καὶ Μελπομένης μιᾶς τῶν Μουσῶν θυγατέρες, Πεισινόη Ἀγλαόπη Θελξιέπεια. τούτων ἡ μὲν ἐκιθάριζεν, ἡ δὲ ᾖδεν, ἡ δὲ ηὔλει, καὶ διὰ τούτων ἔπειθον καταμένειν τοὺς παραπλέοντας. εἶχον δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν μηρῶν ὀρνίθων μορφάς.” (Apollodorus, Epitome, 7.18-19)

This Siren as a hydrophoros (“water-bearer”; or some other type of -phoros…) seems to reinforce her connection to the water whilst transforming her into a quotidian figure of religious or domestic ritual. 

(Despite many attempts to figure out what she might be carrying on her head, the most I could interpret was it being a vegetal ornament like a garland. If anyone has suggestions as to what it might be, please let me know! I was also unsure of the 3-legged vase/decorative ornament(?) that the Cupid is holding.)

This fourth style fresco portrait of a woman with wax tablets and styli, known as the “Sappho” fresco, was originally located in the Insula Occidentalis of Pompeii (Regio VI, Insula 17). It depicts a woman as an idealized docta puella (“learned girl”) archetype, suggesting one’s upper-class/well-off status and educated background. Despite this appearance, upper-class women and girls’ education was highly dependent on the inclinations of their family, and lacked the formal educational structure that boys and men received. 

Similar to other docta puella style portraits (1, 2), the subject holds a stylus in her right hand, resting it point-side up on her lips. In her left hand she holds a stack of tabulae ceratae (wax tablets) and what may be a graphiarium (stylus-case). 

Graphiaria could be made of metal or leather, the former material mentioned in Martial’s Epigrams (XIV.XXI): 

>Graphiarium. Haec tibi erunt armata suo graphiaria ferro: / si puero dones, non leve munus erit.
Stilus case. These stylus-cases you will arm with their steel. If you give them to a boy, it will be no slight gift. 

A strap/string also appears to hang from the opening of the stylus-case, which I can only assume could have been for ease of transportation or to secure it somewhere. 

The stack of four wax tablets held in the same hand could have been bound together to form a book-like structure. Tablets ranged from 5-10mm in thickness, and the rectangular recess for the blackened wax was often carved to a 2-3mm depth. The bottom tablet has a brownish speckled pattern– perhaps this could be used to identify the type of wood used(?). (Tablets found in northwestern provinces were often made of silver fir, and could have been imported southwards).

Covering the top of the woman’s head is a golden reticulum (hairnet), probably woven with a sprang technique. Highlights along the rim of the hairnet and embellishments (beads?) suggest the more valuable material rather than a yellow dye (the traditional wedding color). While reticula were worn by both lower and upper classes alike, golden hairnets were clear indicators of a woman's socioeconomic status in elevating an ordinary bodily accessory.

Sources: 

Hartoch, Else, editor. “Wood use, production of writing tablets, and some associated finds.” The Writing Tablets of Roman Tongeren (Belgium), 2025, pp. 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1484/M.STIA-EB.5.150340. 

Hemelrijk, Emily Ann. Matrona Docta: Educated Women in the Roman Élite from Cornelia to Julia Domna. United Kingdom, Routledge, 1999. 

Radicke, Jan, and Raeder, Joachim. Roman Women’s Dress: Literary Sources, Terminology, and Historical Development. Germany: De Gruyter, 2022. 

Linscheid, Petra. “Hairnets and Bonnets in Late Roman and Byzantine Egypt.” Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London, 2002, www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//textil/hairnets.html. 

Tomlin, Roger S. O. Roman London’s First Voices: Writing Tablets from the Bloomberg Excavations, 2010–14. MOLA, 2016.

Willi, Anna. Manual of Roman Everyday Writing: Volume 2, Writing Equipment. LatinNow ePubs, 2021.

Original by u/STMIonReddit (with some added dialogue)
I tried to draw this as fast as possible during my workday sorry if there's any inconsistencies i hope you guys like it
Long live goldengraves