The marble decoration in the garden of the House of the Gilded Cupids included a set of four relief marble slabs set on high pillars. The pillars terminated in stylized capitals and were decorated with a high-relief pattern on the main side, while in lower relief on the other one. Each pillar was surmounted by a marble slab with both sides decorated with motifs inspired by theatre. The slab too has the main side carved in high relief and the opposite one in very low relief, conveying an almost pictorial effect.
Small pillar with relief slab
White marble, early 1st cent. A.D. Pompeii, House of the Gilded Cupids Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, inv. 20458
The high relief carving is richly decorated with fruit and foliage; the bas-relief on the opposite side portrays a flowering branch. Scenes with theatrical masks are represented on both sides of the carved stone, which rests on a stylized Corinthian capital.
