Stibadium of Plinius, reconstruction by Karl Friedrich SchinkelStibadium of Roman villa of Faragola with the water basin in the centre
The stibadium (pl.: stibadia)[1] is a later form of the ancient Roman lectus triclinaris, the reclining seat used by diners in the triclinium. Originally, the lecti were arranged in a group of three in a semi-circle. The stibadium was a single semi-circular couch, fitting up to a dozen people, which replaced the triple group of lecti in the dining-room, frequently in alcoves around the centre of the room. In large Roman villas stibadia often became very elaborate.
This furniture is also called sigma.[2] This name comes from the lunate sigma (upper case C, lower case ϲ) which resembles, but is not at all related to, the Latin letter C and was used in Eastern forms of Greek writing and in the Middle Ages.
The stibadium was originally an outdoor seat but was introduced indoors in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD because the shape was more convenient for entertaining and as triclinia became larger and more elaborate.
Stibadium on a mosaic in Chateau de Boudry, 5th century
Films about ancient Roman convivia often feature a stibadium rather than a lectus.
^Pliny Epistles 5, 6, 36
^The Roman banquet: images of conviviality, Katherine Dunbabin, 2003, p. 166
The stibadium (pl.: stibadia) is a later form of the ancient Roman lectus triclinaris, the reclining seat used by diners in the triclinium. Originally...
sigma continued until the Middle Ages. Accubitum Cyzicene hall Domus Stibadium Klinē Brown, Shelby (August 10, 2012). "Reclining and Dining (and Drinking)...
Sometimes it denotes a multi-person curved couch, for which the term stibadium is also used. Klinai is the Greek equivalent, sometimes also used. Oftentimes...
which never got beyond the design stage as on its site Persius build the Stibadium in 1840. The Lions Fountain has two gilded cast-iron sculptures of Medici...
of the room. A horseshoe-shaped marble bed at the end of the pool is a stibadium, a convivial dining couch like the one described by Pliny for his villa;...
4.65 m deep, thus providing space for a semicircular bench (sigma or stibadium) and a dining table. Each apse also had a door that communicated with...
the afterlife. She is then shown, like Vincentius above, reclining on a stibadium couch and feasting with six other figures, who, according to the caption...
impressive stibadium, the raised masonry semicircular area for up to 7 diners to recline on, was created and the floor remodelled. The stibadium is the most...
Orangery and greenhouse in Glienicke Park (in Berlin-Wannsee) 1840, Stibadium in Park Glienicke (in Berlin-Wannsee) 1840/41, Entenfang Establishment...
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