Sunday 31 May 2009

Vico Equense, scoperte nella necropoli le statue di due sposi

A report from Metropolis.web about new finds during the excavations at Vico Equense.

Two funerary statues dating to the 1st c. BC were found during excavations on Via Nicoterra. The excavations, directed by Tommasina Budetta, began in 2006 - 7, and have uncovered a terraced necropolis. In one part there are inhumations dating to between the 3rd and 1st century BC; in other parts cremations (deposited in jars or wooden boxes). A columella type tomb has also been found, next to an ustrinum. The two statues were found alongside an ancient road. “Questa recente scoperta è particolarmente rilevante – dichiara l’archeologa Budetta – in quanto documenta la continuità dell’insediamento dall’età arcaica a quella romana. Infatti, poco distante furono rinvenute tombe del VI sec. a.C., i cui reperti sono oggi esposti nel locale Antiquarium inaugurato nel 2001 dalla SANP.”
Finds from the tombs have been taken to the local Antiquarium. I was in Vico just yesterday, and my husband and I were lamenting the fact that we never get time to visit the Antiquarium ...
More details about the finds are available from the link above.

I cento anni della cosiddetto Villa dei Misteri

A new book about the discovery of the Villa of the Mysteries has just come out. It is written by Nico Item, the grandson of Aurelio Item (the man who first found the villa). There was a presentation conference on 22nd May, which I wish I had known about sooner ... Click on the image to enlarge the details, or see the original here. This looks really interesting.

Friday 29 May 2009

Projekt Sarno-Becken

The geoarchaeological research project of the German Archaeological Institute of Berlin has a new website [Projekt Sarno-Becken http://www.dainst.org/index_7902_de.html]. The project is directed by Florian Seiler, and is a collaborative enterprise between the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei, the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici delle Province di Salerno e Avellino, l'Autorità di Bacino del Sarno and several university institutes. Its aims is to broaden the usual focus on Pompeii, by attempting to reconstruct the ancient cultural landscape of the Sarno River Basin.
At present the research group is composed of archaeologists, dendrocronologists, geologists and geographers from Germany and Italy and is working on the following detailed studies:
Spatial development and traffic routes;
The productivity of the villa rusticae;
Pedological analysis of Roman paleosoils;
The organisation of the local construction industry, including petrographical and archaeometrical analysis of all local building materials;
Reconstruction of the woodland ecosystem, based on the dendrocronological investigations in Longola-Poggiomarino and Herculaneum;

The work of the project includes also the generation of two completely new cartographical instruments: a georeferenced mosaic composition of all the aerial photographs taken above the Sarno River Basin during the Second World War (1943-45), and a digital elevation model of the A.D. 79 paleo-surface using stratigraphical drilling data and topographic indices.

Thursday 28 May 2009

The Roman Home Transformed: Greek Art and Roman Luxury

The Roman Home Transformed: Greek Art and Roman Luxury
Keynote Lecture by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill

Thursday, June 4, 2009
7:00 p.m.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

This lecture is presented in conjunction with the symposium, "Greek Art/Roman Eyes: The Reception of Greek Art in the Private Sphere in Ancient Italy," taking place at the Getty Villa, June 5–6, 2009.

For more details (and reservations!), see here.

Tuesday 26 May 2009

Investimenti pubblici e privati nelle città romane

Lunedì 15 giugno 2009, ore 17.00

Investimenti pubblici e privati nelle città romane
(moderatore: Domenico Palombi – Sapienza Università di Roma)

Villino Amelung
via Andrea Cesalpino, 1 B


- Scott Craver (American Academy in Rome / McIntire Department of Art, University of Virginia), Patterns and Problems of Property Ownership in Ancient Pompeii.

- Nicolas Tran (École Française de Rome), C. Vettius Anicetus, quinquennalis fabrum navalium Ostiensium.

- Fabiola Fraioli (Sapienza, Università di Roma), Ornata aedificia. L’arredo scultoreo nelle domus di Roma.

- Alessandro Delfino (Sapienza, Università di Roma), Il Foro di Cesare: le fasi precesariane e il primo impianto costruttivo del foro alla luce delle nuove indagini archeologiche.

New photographs for May on pompeiiinpictures

We have been busy adding photographs from our March trip to Pompeii and have just added the latest batch of new houses to www.pompeiiinpictures.com.

The new houses added in May are:

I.9.1 House of the Beautiful Impluvium
I.9.3 Casa di Successus
I.9.11 Caupona di Amarantus
I.9.12 House of Amarantus
I.9.13/14 Casa di Cerere
1.10.4 House of Menander - Baths kitchen and garden area
I.11.6 House of Venus in the Bikini
II.1.9 Casa del Larario di Ercole
II.1.11/12 Magic Rites Complex
II.2.2 House of Loreius Tiburtinus or D. Octavius Quartio
II.6 Amphitheatre - Upper area added.
III.2.1 Casa di Trebius Valens
III.4.b House of Pinarius Cerealis
III.4.2/3 Casa del Moralista or House of the Moralist
V.1.23/26 House of Caecilius Jucundus
V.5.3 Casa dei Gladiatori or House of the Gladiators
VI.8.20/21 The Fullonica or
The House & Officina Fullonica of L. Veranius Hypsaeus

VI.8.22 House of the Large Fountain
VI.14.20 Casa di Orfeo or House of Orpheus
VIII.4.4 Domus M. Holconi Rufi or House of Holconius Rufus
VIII.4.15 Domus Cornelia or House of Cornelius Rufus
IX.2.21 House linked to bronze ware shop
IX.3.5/24 House of M. Lucretius or Casa delle Suonatrici
IX.3.13 Caupona and dwelling house of Fabius Celer
IX.3.15 House of Philocalus
IX.12.6 House of the Chaste Lovers
IX.12.9 House of the Painters at Work
IX.13.3 House of C. Julius Polybius

The first batch were added in April and a list of these can be accessed at http://pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/new.htm.

We will be adding more new photographs of houses to the site in June and each month over the next few months as we work our way through the 13,000 pictures we took.

Hope you find these useful.

Jackie and Bob at pompeiiinpictures

Sunday 24 May 2009

Catalogue of mythological subjects in Pompeian wall-painting?

Do any of you know if anyone has ever done a catalogue of mythological subjects for Pompeian wall painting?
Posted on behalf of Jennifer Stern.

Friday 22 May 2009

UK to 'unroll' papyrus scrolls buried by Vesuvius

An article about a new technique to unroll Herculaneum's papyri.

Book: Archeologia e natura nella Baia di Napoli


Titolo: Archeologia e natura nella baia di Napoli
Autore: Annamaria Ciarallo
Anno di pubblicazione: 2009
Editore: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
ISBN: 978-88-8265-548-8
Rilegatura: brossura
N. di pagine: 92 pp., 16 Ill. B/N, 1 Vol.
Formato: 10,5x15
Prezzo: € 10,00
Indice: Prefazione; Premessa; La baia di Napoli; I campi flegrei; Cuma; Il Castello di Baia; Pozzuoli: il Tempio di Serapide; Posillipo: Villa di Vedio Pollione; Area Vesuviana; Uno sguardo dinsieme; Ercolano; Nuovi giardini in mostra;
Oplontis: la villa di Poppea; Pompei; Gli orti e i giardini; Complesso Sorrentino-caprese; La Villa Romana di Pollio Felice al Capo di Sorrento; Itinerario di Punta Campanella; Capri; Fonti Antologiche


Gli antichi monumenti, nel loro stato di rovine, hanno dato opportunità alla vegetazione spontanea di crescere, così da comporre un bizzarro ibrido tra natura e cultura. Quanto una tale situazione abbia fornito spunti al sentimento romantico è ben noto a tutti. Ma è altrettanto noto come natura e cultura, per essa sommariamente intendendo le attività delluomo, costituiscono due categorie intimamente differenti fra loro, talvolta addirittura contrastanti.

La maturazione della sensibilità generale e della tecnica gestionale delle aree archeologiche hanno condotto a modi di contemperamento delle due categorie: così che la natura, nel suo rigoglio, non provochi danni alla conservazione delle opere delluomo; e che queste non distruggano quanto la natura, al loro intorno, ha prodotto.

La cultura, cioè lattività umana, in quanto categoria razionale, assume su di sé un doppio compito: conservare quanto luomo ha in precedenza prodotto; conservare quanto la natura continua a produrre.

Anche perché le aree archeologiche, sottoposte a controlli, hanno permesso la conservazione di habitat che il generale sfruttamento del territorio, talvolta condotto senza tener conto né di cautele né di vincoli, ha spesso distrutto, irrimediabilmente, condizioni naturali favorevoli alla perpetuazione di specie animali e vegetali.

Nel rivendicare una ricaduta naturalistica e ambientale al nostro lavoro istituzionale di conservatori delle opere umane del passato, siamo lieti di presentare al pubblico questa ulteriore attività svolta grazie alla collaborazione della Regione Campania.

To order from the publisher click here

Event: Herculaneum's young cultural ambassadors



Next Tuesday there will be an award ceremony for 100 new cultural ambassadors for Herculaneum - all under 14 years old.
100 pupils from 5 schools, together with 10 of their teachers, will be given a certificate by the Mayor in recognition of their participation in a programme aimed at greater understanding of Herculaneum's archaeology and increased awareness of the importance of protecting it.
During recent site visits the children pointed out damage to the archaeology caused by visitors - and it is hoped that their increased sensitivity will impact on their future behaviour and their care for their heritage.
The children were selected from a variety of classes, so that on their return to their own class they could share their new enthusiasm with their peers, thereby increasing the impact of the programme.
In addition, some site visits have been possible where the children bring a relative - it is hoped that these small ambassadors are a way to bring local families into closer contact with their archaeological site.
This schools work is one of various initiatives being organised by the International Centre for the Study of Herculaneum which aims to become "a point of reference for the inclusion of the local and international communities in conserving Herculaneum’s past, by developing partnerships, facilitating physical and intellectual access to the historic environment, and by stimulating responses to Herculaneum’s archaeological and cultural heritage."

Event: ceremony for Herculaneum's young ambassadors
Date: Tuesday 26 May 2009
Time: 11am
Where: Villa Campolieto, Corso Resina 283, Ercolano

Thursday 21 May 2009

LACMA exhibition, again

The Eternally Cool blog just posted a link to a podcast interview with Kenneth Lapatin, curator of the LACMA Pompeii exhibition. You can listen to it here.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Rilancio di Oplonti: accordo con la fondazione RAS

A report this morning in Lo Strillone of an agreement between RAS (Restoring Ancient Stabiae) and the Comune di Torre Annunziata which might see RAS extending its activities to Oplontis. Read it for yourselves (I've run out of time this morning). There is nothing about this on the RAS website - this doesn't seem to have been updated since 2006 ...

Exhibition: Imperium

Another exhibition featuring things from Pompeii just opened at Haltern in Germany. (I'm losing count how many exhibitions there are now!). However, this isn't a 'Pompeii' exhibition but rather an exhibition entitled 'Imperium' to commemorate 2,000 years since the defeat of Varus. Included in the exhibition are artefacts from the House of the Lyre Player (I.4, I think) such as the famous bronze ephebe found in this house.

Here's the story, from Corriere del Mezzogiorno.

LACMA Restaurant Dishing Up Pompeii-ish Plates

This amuses me, by Alysia Gray Painter in LA Around Town:

The total experience. See it, eat it, dress it, etc. The world could use more places of business striving for more immersion, because, to be blunt, people like to escape into a different place for an hour or a day.
And while we don't need to dress like a head of broccoli while shopping for groceries, we do like a museum show where we can go and eye amazing objets and then dine on dishes themed to match the exhibit. Pentimento at LACMA
is going the delectable distance right now with several offerings that are paired with the Pompeii exhibit, which opened at the museum on May 3 and runs through October 4.
There's the Pompeii Caesar with thyme "ash" (museum's parentheses), as well as a panna cotta dessert made with rosemary syrup. Those Pompeians, prior to Vesuvius erupting in 79 AD, were quite the sybaritic bunch, or so history tells us, so we're guessing the sumptuous supping cleaves well to the level of dining going down in the ancient village.
Did we mention the fig compote and Italian cheeses? Because we must always type the word "compote" when opportunity presents itself. And when we find a compote, with cheeses, we enjoy. More compote, world. More compote.

Tuesday 19 May 2009

Reperti archeologi sequestrati in un albergo della Costiera

This from Metropolis Web. Just goes to show that you shouldn't put things on the internet if you don't want people to see them ...

Reperti archeologici sono stati sequestrati dalla guardia di Finanza di Salerno in una struttura turistico-alberghiera della costiera amalfitana. I militari della sezione operativa navale in collaborazione con la Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici per le Province di Salerno ed Avellino, hanno fatto irruzione nella struttura di localita ´Marmolada´ del comune di Ravello (Salerno), recuperando 48 reperti archeologici, in gran parte anfore romane, capitelli corinzi e sarcofagi del valore inestimabile. La scoperta è avvenuta attraverso la visione via web dove veniva pubblicizzata la struttura turistico-alberghiera. Il proprietario dell´immobile e il titolare della società che gestisce la struttura sono stati denunciati alla magistratura per aver violato la normativa riguardante il possesso di beni culturali che fanno parte del demanio o del patrimonio indisponibile dello Stato.

Monday 18 May 2009

Vesuvius On-Line, May 2009

The latest edition of Vesuvius On-line is out and includes the following:
  • L'ultima scoperta di Ercolano.
  • L'eros e la passione dell'antica Pompei illustrate a Copenhagen.
  • Archeologici svendese scoprono insediamenti preistorici finora sconosciuti al di sotto dell'antica Pompei romana.
  • Restauro quasi completo per Grotto San Biagio a Castellamare.
  • 'Si può preventare l'eruzione di Vesuvio'. Parla Giuliani, annunciò sisma in Abruzzo.
  • Vesuvio, alto rischio. Geologi: ampliare zona rosso e ridurre abitanti.

Saturday 16 May 2009

Visits: Naples metro excavations in Piazza Municipio

I've just been on a guided tour of the metro excavations in Naples's Piazza Municipio. Visits are possible Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of May, so if you are in the area and speak some Italian it is well worth booking.

Although there are limits to how close you can get to the archaeology, due to the fact that this is a working construction site with all the hazards involved, the guides (all archaeologists working on the site) do an excellent job of explaining what can be seen and using site panels to show the inaccessible areas.

This is currently Italy's largest urban excavation and phases date from the Greek colonisation of the area through to the 1800s when the piazza was created. Of particular interest is the evidence for the Roman port - including the three boats that were found last year and which are currently being undergoing conservation interventions off-site. There is also a Roman bath building.

Later periods reveal the Anjou and Aragon phases of the nearby Maschio Angioino, including large sections (including towers) of its outer defensive system.

No photos are allowed to be taken during the visit, but this image gives an idea of the site (taken from the external walkway open to the public).

Many of the archaeological features will be incorporated into the metro station design and so on permanent display. This station will be the connection between the metro lines 1 and 6, so has a reasonable amount of space for exhibiting what was found. However, the works won't be finished until 2012 at the earliest, so if you have the time in the coming weekends, book a visit now:

Contact: CDP Relazioni Pubbliche
Phone: 081 764 6206 - 338 871 7644 (Mon to Fri between 10:30-13:00, 16:30-18:30)
Visits possible: 9:00-13:00 on 23, 24, 30, 31 May 2009

Friday 15 May 2009

New titles in Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei

New titles just announced from L'Erma di Bretschneider:

Pietro Giovanni Guzzo & Vincenzo Scarano Ussani
Prostituzione nell'antica Pompei. Ex corpore lucrum facere
Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 27
2009. 180p. ISBN 978-88-8265-558-7. €120

Domenico Esposito
Le officine pittoriche de IV stile a Pompei. Dinamiche produttive ed economico-sociali
Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 28
2009. 294p. ISBN 978-88-8265-496-2. €250

Antonio Varone & Grete Stefani
Titulorum pictorum imagines qui in CIL vol IV collecti sunt
Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 29
2009. 470p. ISBN 978-88-8265-392-7. €250

News round-up, May 15th 2009

  • Some poor tourist slipped over outside the brothel this week and broke her shoulder and fractured her leg. She then had to limp to the Porta Stabia to reach first aid ... (Source). Incidentally, a poor French school boy was bitten by one of the stray dogs of the site a couple of months ago.
  • A large piece of Roman column was found yesterday in Naples during sewer works (Source) and has been taken to the Naples Museum.
  • 'Corri per Pompei' takes place on Saturday at 6pm. The runners' route will take them into the Scavi. 'La pineta degli scavi, oltre a prestarsi come scenario suggestivo delle competizioni sportive, è a disposizione, tutto l'anno, dei giovani pompeiani iscritti ad associazioni sportive e non per gli allenamenti. Chiamando agli uffici comunali, allo 081.857.62.22, si possono avere tutte notizie utili per poter accedere gratis all'area verde della città sepolta' (Source).
  • This one is a couple of weeks old, but interesting nevertheless: Vesuvio, il piano di evacuazione ignora i beni culturali.

LACMA: Pompeii and the Roman Villa, again

Some of you may know that Jennifer and Arthur Stephens of the Via dell'Abbondanza Project contributed three images to the Pompeii exhibition at LACMA. Two were photographs enlarged to 18 ft x 12 ft taken in the garden of the Praedia of Julia Felix (Reg II.4), which served as backdrops to garden statuary; the third was a photomosaic of Reg 1,8 enlarged to 45 ft X 11 ft which was placed in a fairly narrow corridor at the exit the exhibition. Jennifer recently sent me images of these photos in situ (so to speak), and I want to share them here (with her permission, obviously) because I think they're spectacular.

Images: Su concessione del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei.

Also, I want to provide a quick round-up of resources relating LACMA incarnation of this exhibition:
  • This is the official LACMA site, which has a slide show, and details of lectures, concerts and a symposium that relate to the exhibition: http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibpompeii.aspx. Note too that the NGA website for the exhibition still contains podcasts and images (including discussions with Carol Mattusch and a lecture by Paul Zanker).
  • There are photos of the exhibition on the LA Times website, and a review. The LA Times is also asking visitors to the exhibition if they think it was worth the $25 entrance fee ...
  • There is another review at ArtDaily.org, but otherwise there is not a lot out there ... Personally I think Francesca's review for Blogging Pompeii is the best I have read!

Event: Gli archeologi e il vino - 15 May 2009









Those of us based in Naples are enjoying the week-long Wine and the City initiative. There's an event this evening that might be of interest to my fellow archaeologists: "Gli archeologi e il vino".

Date: Friday 15 May 2009
Time: 18.00
Where: Feltrinelli bookshop
Address: Piazza dei Martiri, Naples

Gli antichi greci ritenevano il vino un dono degli dei e il simposio uno dei momenti più alti e significativi della vita quotidiana di un cittadino libero. Le tracce storiche di questa tradizione culturale sono tuttora rintracciabili nei resti archeologici della ceramica da trasporto e da consumo di epoca preromana e romana, ma anche dai numerosi resti delle ville rustiche che costellavano le colline dell’ager campanus, dove si producevano vini famosi come il Falerno. In Locus optimus vino (Edizioni More et Jure) è raccolta buona parte degli atti dei convegni (2003-2006) inseriti nella manifestazione vèrsano a Versano, ideata dall’Associazione I Palazzuoli per la promozione e la conoscenza dei vini campani.

Intervengono Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, Francesco Sirano, Alfredo Balasco e Tommaso Conti. Modera Luigi Cicala. Brindisi offerto dalle aziende vinicole Villa Matilde, Telaro e Vestini Campagnano-Poderi Foglia.

Thursday 14 May 2009

Books on special offer: L'Erma di Bretschneider

The Italian publishing company L'Erma di Bretschneider has just released a new list of books at sale prices. You may need to register on the website in order to download the normal and the sales catalogue. Titles of interest include:

Pompei il Sarno e la Penisola Sorrentina. Atti del
primo ciclo di conferenze di geologia, storia e archeologia.

Pompei 1997. Ed. Senatore F.
1998, 187 p., ill.
[3.45084]( € 26,00) offerta € 13,00

Italienische Reise. Pompejanische Bilder in den
deutschen archaeologischen Sammlungen.
Immagini pompeiane nelle raccolte archeologiche
germaniche. Catalogo della mostra.

[3.17869]( € 46,00) offerta € 23,00

Ori di Oplontis (Gli). Gioielli romani dal suburbio
pompeiano. Catalogo della mostra.
Ed. D’Ambrosio
Antonio
[3.15909]( € 21,00) offerta € 10,50
Peter Staempfli. Alta fedeltà, sguardi sonori. Catalogo

Pio IX a Pompei. Memorie e testimonianze di un
viaggio. Catalogo della mostra.
This one for Jo Berry!
Pompei Scavi 1987,
luglio- settembre, Casina dell’Aquila.
[3.3960]( € 31,00) offerta € 15,50

De Franciscis Alfonso, Bragantini Irene Pompei.
Monumenti nel passato e nel presente. Con ricostruzioni.
Edizioni in varie lingue.
1998, 56 p., 60 ill., 12 pt.
[3.44508]( € 16,00) offerta € 8,00

Fumagalli P. Pompeia. Trattato Pittorico, Storico, e
Geometrico. Opera disegnata negli anni 1824 al
1827.
Incisa e pubblicata da P.F.
s.d., 28 p., 45 incis. f.t., in-4.
[3.22182]( € 1.550,00) offerta € 775,00

Giordano Carlo, Kahn Isidoro Ebrei a Pompei (Gli).
Ercolano, Stabia e nelle città della Campania Felix

1979, 120 p., ill.
[3.15930]( € 11,00) offerta € 5,50

Journey to Pompeii. Virtual itineraries through the
lost town. A computer graphics movie.

1997, 30 mn., VIDEO VHS/PAL
[3.45399]CD ( € 19,00) offerta € 9,50

Pompei. Come si viveva nella città sepolta dal Vesuvio
2000 anni fa.

1998, 128 p., ill. col., 20x27 cm
[3.60827]( € 22,00) offerta € 11,00

Pompéi. La vie dans la ville ensevelie par le Vésuve
il y a 2000 ans.
1998, 128 p., ill. col., 20x27 cm

Gigante Marcello Civiltà delle forme letterarie nell’antica
Pompei.

[3.17882]( € 23,00) offerta € 11,50

Wednesday 13 May 2009

Recent articles: Pompeii, Graffiti, and Vespasian

Two recent articles on Pompeian matters-

     Rebecca R. Benefiel, “Amianth, a ball-game, and making one’s mark,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 167 (2008), 193-200.
     Discusses the ancient interest in writing graffiti through study of a message in the basilica of Pompeii that refers to a group of friends playing ball (CIL IV.1936). Additions to the message show others not only joining in the ball-game (the graffito records their positions in the game), but also an interest in participating in the act of writing the text and wanting to be represented on the wall. One of the players, Amianthus, scrawled his name in seven different places throughout the building, suggesting an even greater desire to make his mark. Often abbreviating his name, his messages also possibly point to the ancient use of nicknames.

Another interesting article appears in the catalogue for the Divus Vespasianus show at Rome:
     Fabrizio Pesando. 2009. “Prima della catastrofe: Vespasiano e le città vesuviane,” in: Divus Vespasianus. Il bimillenario dei Flavi, ed. F. Coarelli, Electa, 378-385.

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Book: Herculanense Museum


My last post prompted me to do some Google search for a book I remember seeing a while ago - this may or may not be related to the soon-to-be-opened Herculanense Museum at Portici, but still of interest:

Title: Herculanense Museum: Laboratorio sull'antico nella Reggia di Portici
Author: Cantilena, Renata; Annalisa Porzio (eds)
ISBN: 9788851005719
Description: Napoli: Electa, 2008. 24cm., pbk., 334pp. illus., most in color. Includes: M. Margiotta "La Reggia e il sito reale," E. Chiosi "Ercolano e le nuove scoperte dell'antico," A. Allroggen-Bedel "L'antico e la politica culturale dei Borbone," M. Mansi "Libri del re : Le Antichita di Ercolano esposte," I. Bragantini "L'archeologia del Duemila incontra il Settecento - Ercolano e Pompei: lo scavo e la documentazione degli apparati decorativi," etc [internet could give me no more!]

Inaugurazione delle sale restaurate e allestite per l’Herculanense Museum - 15 maggio 2009

I'm not entirely sure what is happening at the Royal Palace at Portici, but it seems that there is some sort of project to re-create the Herculanense Museum.

The opening will be on Friday 15 May at 11.30 according to the official website of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici e Paesaggistici di Napoli e Provincia (NB: therefore not "our" Soprintendenza). The following text is from the website:

"Grazie ai finanziamenti dei fondi P.O.R. Campania del 2000/2006, si è realizzato il progetto dell’herculanense Museum. Sono state restaurate 14 sale del piano nobile della reggia borbonica, ed allestite secondo criteri metodoloci filologici rispettando rigorosamente le epoche storiche dei ritrovamenti.
In tal modo è stato possibile rappresentare la fondazione dell’herculanense museum con i suoi reperti archeolocici tutti vissuti ed interpretati da immagini riprodotte da incisioni, stampe, riproduzioni etc...
La “novità” è resa da alcune sale multimediali dove il visitatore può ricevere emozioni e rivivere l’atmosfera dell’antico."


I've got an invitation to attend on Friday (although that doesn't seem to be necessary), and will post more on the blog when I have more information.

Pompeii & the Roman Villa at LACMA

I've just come from an informal presentation by Ken Lapatin, Associate Curator of Antiquities at the Getty Museum and guest curator of the LACMA show. Having now seen the exhibition & spoken to Lapatin a bit about it, I wanted to share my own thoughts about it as well as convey some of the curators' intentions. [NB: I've only seen the exhibition once, on opening night and I haven't even visited the gift shop yet!]

The exhibition has been been examined by a couple of LA Times writers, so be sure to check out that coverage as well as Michael Koortbojian's recent AJA review.

As many of you likely know, the exhibition at LACMA is a second iteration of the original at the National Gallery in Washington, DC.--a show which drew over 300,000 visitors. [It is, of course, only this version of the exhibition that Koortbojian saw.] Lapatin, as guest curator (along with Carol Mattusch), noted the benefit of being the second stop on the exhibition's tour--issues with the original version could be worked out, new things tried. Indeed Lapatin at LACMA seems to have toned down many of the modern "intrusions" on antiquity that so troubled Koortbojian. (I myself did not see the NGA show.)

The show that one sees now at LACMA is very different from the Pompeii shows of the past ten years or so--at least the ones that make it to American museums. Those have tended to focus on daily life, household objects and have frequently been set up at science museums. A big draw for such shows are the plaster casts of Vesuvius' human & animal victims. When I saw A Day in Pompeii at Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC, a half a dozen such casts were laid out on beds of dark, Hawaiian volcanic stone and spotlit from above. THE HORROR!!! is what these exhibitions have tried to convey, in much the same way that TV documentaries have repeated speculations about not only what it was like to live in Pompeii, but what it was like to die there as well.

As the subtitle (Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples) of the LACMA exhibition states, this show is meant to be about art (without, of course, attempting to figure out what the Romans considered art to be). And in fact, the overwhelming beauty of the objects in the show is what stays with me. The pieces are not entirely taken out of ancient context, but even as an archaeologist who works on materials from the Bay of Naples, I found it very, very easy to play connoisseur and enjoy this show for the aesthetic value of the pieces selected. There is a tremendous variety of materials represented--the usual marble and fresco, but also included are the more luxurious gilded bronze, glass, cameo, obsidian, silver, gold jewelry, etc. I was stunned by the amount of polychromy remaining on a lot of the marble sculpture, even on pieces that had been excavated in the 18th century. And I was also so thrilled to see pieces that I had never seen before "in real life"--like the bronze animals from the Casa del Citarista, whose gilding is still very evident.
There is a comprehensivity in the exhibition in terms of the sources for the works. Naturally, there are some pieces that come from early "excavations" whose provenance is unknown, but the show includes pieces from not only Pompeii & Herculaneum, but Stabiae and Oplontis, as well as an entire triclinium from the Moregine building. These latter frescoes--the room of Apollo & the Muses--are displayed in a room the size of the actual original setting, giving a much better sense of the space than when frescoes from the same building were on display in the Rosso Pompeiano show at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome last year.


There are five main sections in the exhibition: Patrons & Proprietors, Taste for the Antique, Gardens, Interiors, and Rediscovery & Reception. Lapatin stated that the rooms are laid out in an axial, roughly symmetrical way so as to suggest other examples of Roman architecture. I'm not so convinced... I'm also not so convinced about the first section--or at least I am not sure that it hangs seamlessly with the other parts of the exhibition. Although I was thrilled to see the basanite portrait of Livia, among other things, a room of both imperial and private portraits did not seem to add in any critical way to the theme of the exhibition. (This might be factor of my own, current, academic preoccupation: understanding what role patrons/homeowners really played in the decoration of their own houses and gardens.) This section was designed to add the "who" to the "what," "how," and "why" on the topic of life on the Bay of Naples.

Perhaps most interesting for me was the second section on Taste for the Antique, for it attempts an analysis of the many ways in which Romans collected, adapted, copied, and displayed Greek culture (visual and otherwise) for their own purposes. The exhibition includes a variety of sculpture, inspired by Greek precedents, but with an eye to demonstrating the stylistic eclecticism common in Roman art. Works which combine Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic stylistic elements suggest an interest on the Romans' part for being comprehensive in their use of Greek visual culture. Then there are examples of Hellenizing statues that have been repurposed in the Roman setting--bronze figures based on a kouros or "Polykleitan" type, but put to use as lampstands or supports for trays/small tables (like that from the Casa di C. Julius Polybius). Naturally the mythological paintings and mosaics in the exhibition speak to the Romans' embracing of the Greek pantheon and literature, as does the bronze gladiator helmet with repousse' scenes of the Trojan War. The helmet was chosen for this section of the exhibition in part because it shows a use of a Greek story that likely would have been antithetical to how the Greeks employed their own myths and imagery. Portraits like the Homer from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston continue the theme suggested in this section that Romans used images of famous Greek poets and scenes from Greek plays (e.g.) in their domestic decor for purposes of pretension--that displaying such imagery suggested to houses' visitors that the owner was well-read & cultured.

The section on gardens attempts to suggest garden space, but I still had that feeling of being in a box. (This seems to be a great departure from the Washington version of the show, decorated as it was with potted plants.) Nevertheless, some excellent examples of "garden art" are included in the show; among them are a section of the garden painting from the Casa del Bracciale d'Oro, marble pinakes from the Casa degli Amorini Dorati, the satyr & hermaphrodite group from Villa A at Oplontis, one of the marble herm heads of Dionysos from the Casa di Octavius Quartio, a piece from LACMA's own modest collection of antiquities: a bronze herm terminal with the heads of a male and a female satyr. And as I mentioned above, this was an amazing chance to see the bronze animals from the Casa del Citarista not only up close, but even not sequestered in a vitrine! They are displayed in a wing of one room and surrounded by wall-sized photos of a garden space, but oddly not the garden of the Casa del Citarista (which arguably isn't all that picturesque). One change Lapatin made from the installation of the satyr & hermaphrodite group at the National Gallery was putting it in a spot where it could be observed from all sides. In Washington, there was a plant placed behind it, preventing viewers from walking around and really getting a sense for the "gotcha" moment in the symplegma. I had the pleasure of coming upon this piece in the exhibition with my colleague Adrian Staehli, who wrote his dissertation on such erotic groups. (And of course I was thrilled to see the piece from the Casa di Octavius Quartio, which I had also studied in my own dissertation, but with the awareness that its nowhere near as cool as the symplegma!)

The Getty loaned a number of pieces to the exhibition, mostly to the section on Interiors. There are 19 objects made of glass from the Villa collection in the show, most of which are unfortunately without known findspots, but which do represent the gamut of glassmaking techniques--blown, mold-made, mosaic, etc.--and are shapes/types found in Vesuvian contexts. In the same room are other vessels of luxurious materials, like silver kantharoi and the famous obsidian bowl with egyptianizing decoration from Stabiae. In this room there is also a vitrine, built into a wall with architectural framing to suggest a lararium, containing bronze statuettes of gods (most of them unprovenanced pieces from the Walters Art Museum) and a small silver bull from the Getty Villa.

The last section of the exhibition focuses on reception of Pompeii after the rediscovery. There are early engravings and photographs of objects found in the region and of the excavations, as well as early editions of Bulwer-Lytton's The Last Days of Pompeii. The Getty Research Institute loaned nine books for this part of the show. The printed works are joined by the nostalgic, weird, and fascinating Victorian-era works like Alma-Tadema's A Sculpture Gallery and Rogers' Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii. The Alma-Tadema painting is accompanied in a small room by the works of sculpture actually represented in the canvas, as a means to underscore 19th century fascination with the classical antiquity and the learned, if flawed, attitude towards it. Some might quibble--as Koortbojian did--that this section is not entirely relevant to the predominant theme of the exhibition, despite the inherent historical and intellectual significance of the later works.

So what I have hoped to have made clear is that the exhibition is visually stunning, laid out in a coherent way, and chock-full of truly excellent works of art from a variety of sources from around the Bay of Naples. This is a wonderful opportunity to see pieces that are rarely put on display in Naples or other Italian museums; some works have never visited North America. Moreover, the exhibition directly engages with some current issues in the study of Roman domestic decoration and Roman attitudes toward Greek culture. Since it is a museum exhibition, designed with the general public in mind, the wall text in the show naturally does not dig deep into those thorny topics; this is a job for the exhibition catalogue, recently reviewed in BMCR by John Clarke. A symposium in June to be held at the Getty Villa will also give very scholarly attention to the subjects raised in the exhibition. I believe it is unclear at this point if the show will travel beyond Washington and Los Angeles, so I strongly encourage those of you who can to see the show before it closes October 4.

[all photos courtesy of LACMA]

Article: Progetto “Rileggere Pompei”

New article in the Fasti Online by two Blogging Pompeii contributors! Looks interesting!

Lara Anniboletti, Valentina Befani, Paolo Boila. 2009. Progetto “Rileggere Pompei”: per una nuova forma urbis della città. Le indagini geofisiche nell’area non scavata e l’urbanizzazione del settore orientale. FOLD&R: 148.

Sale of the libraries of Prof. J.A.K.E. de Waele and Prof. F.L. Bastet

Thanks to Gene Dwyer for sending this notice to me.

The libraries of Prof. J.A.K.E. de Waele and F.L. Bastet about to be auctioned by a Dutch bookseller on May 19th and 20th. I wonder why they haven't gone to a library ... Here are the auction details:

  • The catalogue contains the important library of Prof. dr. J.A.K.E. de Waele (1938-2001). This library can best be described as a gateway to life in Classical Antiquity; the vast majority of the books dealing with archaeology (i.a. Pompeii).
  • The library of Prof. dr. F.L. Bastet (1926-2008), consisting of books on Classical Antiquity, Literature and the Arts.
  • Arabic manuscripts from the collection of Prof. dr. P.S. van Koningsveld.
  • Part VI of the Stock and Reference Works of Smitskamp Oriental Antiquarium (formerly of E.J. Brill).
  • A fine collection of books on (applied) art, books on books, bibliophile editions comprising of a nearly complete collection of publications by Stichting De Roos (incl. Escher 'Regelmatige vlakverdeling'), a large collection of signed bibliophile bindings presented to members of the Dutch nobility, as well as other libraries and collections.

If you are interested, visit the website:http://www.b-n.nl/new_index.php?lang=eng&page=auction&sub=start

Dissertation Proposal

My dissertation will be on heating and fuel issues in the Roman baths, and I am hoping to use the Forum Baths at Pompeii and the Forum Baths at Ostia as test samples, since they are well preserved. I have not been to the Pompeii Forum Baths since they were refurbished and wondered if anyone out there had any opinion on how much they had been altered. Thanks.

Monday 11 May 2009

May 16th: Pompeii, Odeon (ancient literature reading)

For everybody around and interested:

Within the event of "Archeologia e Natura nella Baia di Napoli" the next performance is going to take place this Saturday at the Odeon in Pompeii.

Iaia Forte, an actress of Naples, is going to read ancient literature (in Italian). The entrance to the performance (30-40 minutes) is free and starts at noon.


(this picture was taken at the odeon of the villa of Vedius Pollio at Posillipo with Cristina Donadio reading)

Pompejanum Aschaffenburg

As the original question about the Pompejanum is some weeks old, I was invited to provide some pictures for all of you in a new Pompejanum post.

On Flickr you mainly find pictures from the outside, so here you find some more details from the inside:
The original layout of the Pompejanum is supposed to be following that of the "Casa dei Dioscuri", but being a model house... Take a look yourselves!

Seminar: Thinking about gods in Pompeii

Seminar to be held as part of the University of Durham (UK), Department of Classics and Ancient History, seminar series 2009:

Wednesday 20 May, 5.30pm, Dr Anna Clark (Christ Church, Oxford) Thinking about gods in Pompeii.

See the departmental website for more details.

Vesuvius again - please vote!

The Eruptions blog occasionally profiles particular volcanoes. At the moment there is a poll to see which volcano readers would like to be profiled. Vesuvius is one of them - and I would like it to be featured! So, I am asking you all to go to this page and vote for Vesuvius!!

Chi (non) ha paura del Vesuvio?

For those of us in Italy, tonight there is a documentary about Vesuvius and what would happen if it were to erupt today! Here is the description from Il Nolano:

SAN GIUSEPPE VESUVIANO - Gli abitanti di San Giorgio a Cremano, Portici, Ercolano, San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Pollena Trocchia, Massa di Somma Ottaviano , Sant'Anastasia, Somma Vesuviana, Cercola, San Giuseppe Vesuviano, Terzigno, Boscoreale, Pompei , Torre del Greco, Torre Annunziata, Trecase, Boscotrecase (paesi della zona rossa del vulcano), ma anche tutti gli altri che abitano in area nolano, stasera dovrebbero guardare o registrare il documentario di Andrea Postiglione “Chi ha paura del Vulcano”. Inchiesta su una emergenza attualissima. Se si verificasse l’eruzione del Vesuvio, come starebbero messi questi paesi alle sue falde? Male, molto male a guardare il filmato del giovane documentarista, che verrà trasmesso stasera alle 13 su Current Tv, canale sky 130. Se una via di fuga è la famigerata Ss268, le cose sono davvero complicate. Se poi si pensa che l’Ospedale del Mare sorge a ridosso della zona rossa, il piatto è servito. L’area vesuviana e la Campania tutta sono impreparati a questa emergenza. Il documentario passa in rassegna la situazione con interviste a sindaci, assessori provinciali, protezione civile. Un video da non perdere: se è vero che, come dice l’assessore Borrelli “i giovani non pensano affatto al rischio eruzione” e dunque il problema sembra essere ignorato, allora la visione è caldamente consigliata.

Pompei: protestano i dipendenti del ristorante internazionale

A report from Stabia News about the employees of the on-site restaurant at Pompeii. Apparently when Profili shut the old restaurant last summer he provided guarantees that its employees would be taken on by the new concession (Autogrill). However, the owners of the old restaurant are contesting the legality of the new concession, so the restaurant remains shut and its employees remain unemployed, without unemployment benefits. They have been attempting to contact the new commissario, Fiori, without success, and last week staged a sit-in at the Porta Marina.
This whole restaurant business really needs to be sorted out - urgently. It is ridiculous that there is nowhere on site to buy food and drink. This is high tourist season now ...

Sunday 10 May 2009

LACMA: original artworks by Jeff Cane

So far I deliberately have not posted any reviews about the LACMA Pompeii exhibition - in anticipation of something I know/hope is coming soon to the blog (!). But I want to share these photos of the hand-made works of art produced by Jeff Cane to be sold at the museum. I think they're beautiful. Some of you may remember the photo 'Sappho' charger that I posted a while back.
This is Jeff's website: http://www.anenglishmaninla.com/.

Saturday 9 May 2009

Journal: Automata - nature, science and technologies in the ancient world

The publishers L'Erma di Bretschneider have a relatively new journal (first edition was in 2006) Automata which aims to cover issues of nature, science and technology in the ancient world.

The first three volumes include the following articles:

M. & R. J. Henneberg, Human Skeletal Material from Pompeii: A Unique Source of Information about Ancient Life
P. Baraldi et al., Vibrational Spectra of Some Pigments from Pompeii
E. De Carolis - F. Esposito - D. Ferrara, Un contributo sulla tecnica di esecuzione degli affreschi della Villa dei Papiri di Ercolano

There is a special offer on at the moment, where if you subscribe to volume 3, you get volumes 1 and 2 for free. For more information see the website.

Review: Carol C. Mattusch (ed.), Pompeii and the Roman Villa

From the latest BMCR (2009.05.18):

Carol C. Mattusch (ed.), Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples. National Gallery of Art, October 19, 2008-March 22, 2009; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, May 3-October 4, 2009. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2008.

Reviewed by John R. Clarke, University of Texas at Austin

Thursday 7 May 2009

Articles: Opuscula Romana 31 - 32 (2006 - 2007)

The latest Opuscula Romana (31 - 32, 2006 - 2007) has arrived in the American Academy library (or maybe I have only just seen it now!) and contains the following:

A-M. Leander Touati, Interim report of the Swedish Pompeii Project: work 2000 - 2004/5 in Insula V.1. Introduction, 101 - 4.

M. Staub Gierow, The House of the Greek Epigrams V.1.18.11-12: preliminary report 2000 - 2004, 105 - 118.

A. Karivieri and R. Forsell, The House of Caecilius Jucundus, V.1.22-27: a preliminary report, 119 - 138.

H. Boman and M. Nilsson, The commercial establishments V.1.13; V.1.14-16; V.1.20-21: preliminary report 2001 - 2004, 139 - 154.

M. Robinson, Evidence for garden cultivation and the use of bedding-out plants in the peristyle garden of the House of the Greek Epigrams (V.1.18i) at Pompeii, 155 - 160.

H. Boman and M. Nilsson, The early street and the prehistoric finds in Vicolo delle Nozze d'Argento, Pompeii, 161 - 166.

Wednesday 6 May 2009

Raccontami: 100 attori in prestito ai luoghi dell'arte in Campania







This is one of an increasing number of initiatives to encourage people to visit Campania's heritage sites. Each weekend during May there will be actors telling tales in and based on archaeological sites and historic buildings across the region.

The events in the Bay of Naples will take place in:
- Baia/Bacoli
- Cuma
- Stabiae
- Ercolano/Herculaneum
- Pozzuoli
- Oplontis
- and more!

For more information see http://www.raccontamicampania.it/

Meeting: À l'ombre du volcan - artisanat et vie quotidienne à Pompéi; 15-16 may 2009, Aix-en-Provence (F)


A meeting will be held next 15th and 16th of may 2009, about crafts and daily life in Pompeii in Aix-en-Provence (F).
Program available there

No water in Ercolano! (until Friday 8th May)

Just to warn anyone planning a visit to Herculaneum this week - wait until Friday!
The entire modern city of Ercolano has no water for three days (starting Tuesday 5th May in the afternoon, with nothing Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th).
The Soprintendenza already has chemical toilets in place, but with about 900 visitors a day at the moment and a hot sun heating the plastic cubicles up, you're probably better waiting for water services to resume on Friday.
Local shops have done their best to stock up on extra supplies of bottled water, but obviously with a whole city of people buying them up - you should think about bringing your own.
Please sympathise with those of us who have to carry on working regardless!

Pompei: Marcello Fiori resta commissario degli Scavi

A report from StabiaNews about how conditions at Pompeii have returned to the state they were in last summer when the state of emergency was declared. The new Commissario Marcello Fiori has done little to improve the situation (even cancelling some of the initiatives of his predecessor Profili) and is apparently rarely in Pompeii to deal with problems arising. In the meantime there is still no restaurant and hardly any bathroom services for tourists. Why is there not the political will to do something about this???

Riapre via Matrone: turisti al Vesuvio senza barriere

From Lo Strillone:
Dopo ventun´anni riapre, anche se al momento solo ai bus del Parco del Vesuvio, l´antica via Matrone, la carrozzabile che dal 1894 in poi aveva consentitoa milioni di turisti di arrivare in vetta al vulcano, salendo dal lato di Boscotrecase. Il viaggio inaugurale è previsto per mercoledì allorché quattro navette partiranno da piazza Pace, a Boscoreale, per accompagnare i primi visitatori (politici e giornalisti) in quella che sarà la prima di una lunga serie di escursioni al vulcano. Le gare per la gestione del servizio e per l´acquisto delle navette, costate ottocentomila euro e pagate con un finanziamento regionale, sono state espletate dalla Provincia. A ciascun pulmino è consentito trasportare un massimo di venticinque visitatori, oltre l´autista e la guida, obbligatoria: ciascuna navetta può considerarsi un concentrato di tecnologie indirizzate al rispetto dell´ecosistema e delle biodiversità delle aree attraversate. I bus, difatti, hanno motore diesel con emissione dei gas inquinanti prossima allo zero, impianti tecnologici di bordo come lo schermo wireless ad ogni posto, quattro ruote motrici per arrampicarsi sul vulcano, misure adeguate alla strada e colori che si mimetizzano con quelli della flora presente. Il servizio, secondo le previsioni, sarà attivato nel volgere di una o due settimane. Punto di partenza delle navette, almeno per i primi sette-otto mesi, sarà l’area mercatale di Boscoreale, in corrispondenza con l´inizio di via Panoramica, alla periferia est della cittadina. È previsto che una corsa, con cadenza oraria, tocchi le stazioni di Boscoreale, Boscotrecase e Trecase. Successivamente, si stima alla fine del 2009, stazionamento e capolinea degli eco-bus verranno spostati a Villa Regina, in prossimità del Museo antiquarium per «l´uomo e l´ambiente sul territorio vesuviano»; in quella zona sarà anche attrezzata un´area di parcheggio destinata sia agli automezzi del Parco sia a pullman e veicoli privati dei turisti, visto che tra Comune, Regione e Provincia, nel 2005, venne sottoscritto un accordo che concedeva lo spazio in comodato d´uso e con una durata trentennale. La strada Matrone venne realizzata in poco più di due anni di lavori in virtù di un accordo - concessione (il canone era pari a 180 lire all´anno) datata 1892 e stipulata tra il Demanio e la società Fiorenza-Matrone, il cui maggior azionista era appunto l´ingegnere di Boscotrecase Gennaro Matrone. Più volte distrutto dalle colate laviche, il tracciato venne sempre ricostruito dai Matrone che si trasmisero la concessione per eredità sino al 1988 quando il ministero delle Foreste revocò l´autorizzazione e incluse la strada nella riserva di competenza. La navetta, dunque attraverserà l´area protetta e raggiungerà il piazzale a quota 1050; da li, con la guida alpina, si potrà salire sin sul bordo del Gran Cono, a quota 1250. «Con la riapertura al turismo della strada Matrone - sottolinea Mario Casillo - siamo riusciti a dare al territorio un´altra possibilità di sviluppo, coniugando in maniera perfetta le diverse esigenze dell´area e la tutela di un patrimoni ambientale che non ha simili al mondo».

Tuesday 5 May 2009

Visiting the Villa Sora

Jeremy Hartnett and I were in Campania with the ICCS students a couple of weeks ago, and - thanks to Christian Biggi and Sarah Court of the Herculaneum Conservation Project, and to volunteers from Gruppo Archeologico Vesuviano (GAV) - we got to take the students to the Villa Sora (see Sarah's earlier post about the Villa).
The Villa is right by the sea in Torre del Greco with views to Capri, and apparently was terraced over several levels. The small part that can be seen today was excavated in the 1990s and consists of a series of nicely-decorated rooms with lots of floral motifs that have been dated to the Tiberian period - although the decoration is clearly suffering from the elements, despite the roof put up after the excavations.Perhaps one of the things I found most interesting about the visit was the chance to see, and talk about, the impact of the eruption of AD 79 (you can see, for example, the photo below how the black fresco has turned yellow from the heat of the eruption), the problems of excavation, and the problems of conservation.
The villa is basically in a hole, located in the midst of a series of large greenhouses. The excavators were unable to excavate the parts of the villa nearer to the sea because train tracks pass by, cutting the villa in two. They can't excavate further inland, because the land owners won't permit it. So, the remains of the villa are isolated, and modern treasure-hunters have paid a visit. In the photo above you can see a ragged hole in the fresco in the top left corner - a small vignette was stolen from here. (The other more regular holes are from frescoes removed by the authorities.)
To visit the Villa Sora you need to book with GAV. Our coach was met by one of the GAV volunteers as we came off the autostrada and we were guided to the Villa. They have parking for cars, but there wasn't access for our coach which caused a few problems. We then had to walk through all the greenhouses to the villa, past a rather scarey series of chained dogs (I've never seen Jeremy run so fast!!) down to the villa. It was not an easy visit, honestly, but it was fun and I'm glad we did it. The two volunteers from GAV were fantastic; they couldn't have been more helpful and we had a great guided tour. I would recommend a visit - but not with a coach!
My thanks to ICCS students Staci Holloway and Elizabeth Salazar for providing the photos!

Monday 4 May 2009

Article: Du couteau au boucher

Just out:
Nicolas Monteix, 'Du couteau au boucher: remarques préliminaires sur la préparation et le commerce de la viande à Pompéi.' In W. Van Andringa (ed), Sacrifices, marché à la viande et pratiques alimentaires dans les cités du monde romain. Food and History 5.1 (2007), 169 - 195.

Sunday 3 May 2009

Bronze Ephebe at the Getty Villa


As you read earlier on Blogging Pompeii, the bronze statue of an ephebe as a lampstand from the Casa del Efebo (I.7.10-12, House of Publius Cornelius Tegete), is on loan to the Getty Museum for about a year. It has just recently been installed in the "Basilica" gallery at the Getty Villa.

The statue, having gone through extensive restoration in Florence in the 1990's, received only little conservation work at the Getty Villa--as far as I know it only received a mount for its base in the Basilica and the base was shored up (pardon the non-technical speak!). Every object at the Getty Villa, whether part of the permanent collection or on loan, receives its own mount, made especially for that object. Like other large pieces at the Villa, the Ephebe is mounted on a stabilizing base that is designed as an anti-seismic measure. (And good thing, since we had a magnitude 4.4 earthquake here last Friday!)

One thing that is particularly interesting about the Ephebe is that it retains its original marble base, over which is laid the bronze stand. This is quite rare for sculpture at Pompeii.


The conservation work in Florence revealed the copper lips & nipples that had evidently not been noticed until that time.


You can see other photos of the Ephebe in its temporary home at the Getty Villa on my Flickr page.

Saturday 2 May 2009

Rooms above Porta Marina, response




The rooms seem to be two trapezoidal chambers I have marked A and B on the attached plan (north at top; from Richardson, L., Pompeii. An Architectural History, Baltimore 1998, p. 404) whose west wall is on the same alignment as the main external arch of the Porta Marina (not the footway arch which protrudes further west).

The problem with this plan is that it doesn't give any indication of terracing, which makes it rather confusing. But if you go to Google Earth you can see the modern roof area covering these two rooms immediately above (north) of the Porta Marina and it makes it clear these are the rooms marked on the plan. Or look at Google Maps: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.748594,14.483288&spn=0.000981,0.002403&z=19

What is not so clear is which house these rooms belong to. They could belong to the House of Umbricius Scaurus or to Insula Orientalis.1. They are on a lower level than the main floor of both houses.
However, if one examines the facade of the Porta Marina it does rather look as if quite a lot of this superstructure has been substantially reconstructed. I am wondering if these rooms as extant are in fact largely early modern, perhaps even preceding the main excavations, and built on Roman footings. The superstructure here is totally inconsistent with the very poor state of the House of Umbricius Scaurus immediately to the north.

Rooms above Porta Marina

We have just returned from Pompeii with 10,000 new photographs which we will be busy adding to the site over the next few months. The first pictures including The House of the Lovers and the House of the Floral Cubicula were added at the end of April.

We took some photographs (below) of rooms above the Porta Marina. We were at the time in the lower part of the House of Umbricius Scaurus and found these rooms which we can't find in any of our books. Can anyone help us by identifying the rooms and suggesting how we can describe them on pompeiiinpictures.com?

The full set of pictures can be seen at http://pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/R7/7%2016%2013%20p6.htm.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Jackie and Bob Dunn
email@pompeiiinpictures.com



BBC video: The 'underground world' of Naples

There is a fascinating report by Duncan Kennedy on the BBC News website this morning about underground caves and tunnels in Naples. Watch the video here, it's well worth it.
There's one ancient cave that was used as an air-raid shelter during WW2 and looks like it might have once been a mithraeum (?). Does anyone know anything about this? Any bibliography you could share or contact details of the people working in the caves? I would love to know more about what's happening here.

Friday 1 May 2009

Obituary - Robert Etienne (1921-2009)

Robert Etienne, author of The daily life in Pompeii died last January. Here follows his obituary, published by Le Monde:

Spécialiste du monde romain antique, l’historien Robert Etienne est mort à Bordeaux, le 4 janvier [2009], à l’âge de 87ans. Né à Mérignac (Gironde) le 18 janvier 1921, ce fils de sous-officier de cavalerie et d’une directrice d’école conserva sa vie durant les usages de son milieu d’origine. Il en assumait avec ostentation – et un certain panache – les codes. Préférant être le premier dans sa ville qu’un second à Paris, Robert Etienne fit l’essentiel de sa carrière à Bordeaux. Il ne fréquenta Paris (le lycée Louis-le-Grand, la faculté des lettres, l’École normale supérieure, enfin, en1942) que le temps d’obtenir un diplôme de l’École pratique des hautes études (1945) et l’agrégation d’histoire (1946). Et s’il fait ses premières armes d’enseignant au lycée de Nîmes (1946) avant d’intégrer l’École française de Rome (1947), il regagne Bordeaux comme assistant à la faculté des lettres dès 1949. Hormis pour les nombreux chantiers archéologiques auxquels il participe, il reste indéfectiblement fidèle à la capitale d’Aquitaine, dont il devient l’une des figures universitaires marquantes.

Pendant près de quarante ans (jusqu’en 1988), Robert Etienne s’attache à l’université Michel-de-Montaigne Bordeaux-III, y exerçant tant sa charge d’enseignant – il occupe de 1961 à 1988 la chaire d’histoire romaine – que des postes administratifs. Son attachement à la ville lui vaut du reste de recevoir son épée d’académicien – il succède le 18 juin 1999 à Roland Martin à l’Académie des inscriptions et belles lettres – au Grand Théâtre de la ville des mains du maire, Alain Juppé. Ses champs de compétence allaient de l’archéologie romaine (des mondes africain, lusitanien, gaulois ou dace) à l’histoire politique des premiers siècles avant et après Jésus-Christ, en passant par la circulation commerciale dans l’empire ou l’expression provinciale du culte impérial, avec l’appui de la numismatique comme de l’épigraphie notamment. Si sa thèse de doctorat, publiée dès sa soutenance, en 1958, consacrée au Culte impérial dans la péninsule Ibérique d’Auguste à Dioclétien, comme ses nombreux rapports de fouilles restent réservés aux spécialistes, le grand public a su faire le large accueil que méritent les œuvres de vulgarisation de Robert Etienne, de sa classique Vie quotidienne à Pompéi (Hachette, 1966, sans cesse rééditée), à sa biographie de Jules César (Fayard, 1997), de son manuel sur Le Siècle d’Auguste (Armand Colin, 1970) à ses contributions aux collections «Archives» (Les Ides de mars, Gallimard, 1973) et «Découvertes» (Pompéi, la cité ensevelie, 1987). Cet érudit courtois et bon vivant consacra, à plus de 80 ans, un savoureux triptyque à la gastronomie antique, où le vin, les salaisons et sauces de poisson, l’huile enfin sont lus comme Trois clés pour l’économie de l’Hispanie romaine [De Boccard, Paris, 2000].

Philippe-Jean Catinchi, Le Monde, 8 janvier 2009, p. 20.

More on his academic background here.

Maggio dei Monumenti

This is the 15th year when "May of the Monuments" is being organised to encourage more access to Naples's heritage. For more information on the events see the Comune's website.

Guided tours
Tours are being run by various associations, and you should check with the website to see which visits are possible in various languages (I've seen Italian, English, French, Spanish and German - but not for all tours)
Itinerary 1: lower Decumanus
Itinerary 2: Decumanus Maximus
Itinerary 3: from Castel dell'Ovo to Piazza San Domenico Maggiore
Itinerary 4: from the Archaeological Museum to the Roman theatre
Itinerary 5: from Porta Nolana to Mercato

Schools adopt a monument
Tours are being arranged at a much wider range of monuments (not just Naples city) by schools that have adopted a monument.

Special openings
Visits will be possible at the following sites, libraries, archives, churches:
Teatro Antico di Neapolis
Scavo Archeologico Metropolitana Piazza Municipio (do not miss this!)
Scavi Archeologici Carminiello ai Mannesi
Complesso museale dell’Arciconfraternita dei Pellegrini
Palazzo Sangro di Sansevero
Galleria Accademia Belli Arti - Gipsoteca e alcuni laboratori
Istituto Italiano per gli studi storici
Chiesa S. Maria della Mercede e Sant’Alfonso M. de’ Liguori
Chiesa di Santa Maria di Gerusalemme o le Trentatrè
Chiesa di Santa Maria Donnalbina
Archivio Storico ENEL
Chiesa Sant'Agostino degli Scalzi
Palazzo della Prefettura
Chiesa di Sant'Antoniello a Port'Alba
Cappella Pignatelli
Istituto Italiano per gli studi storici
Archivio di Stato
Palazzo Marigliano Soprintendenza Archivistica per la Campania
Palazzo Ricca (Archivio Storico del Banco di Napoli)
Biblioteca dedicata alla Beata Caterina Volpicelli

Events
Throughout May there will also be a series of associated events, including conferences, theatre, music, religious events, film, and even a scrabble tournament!!
Of particular interest are:

Fino al 16 maggio • Incontri di Archeologia
Ciclo di Conferenze relative ai musei e alle aree archeologiche
Varie sedi
A cura del Servizio Educativo della Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei
Info e prenotazioni: 081.4422273 – 081.4422270 (lun.-ven. ore 9/13.30)
Partecipazione gratuita
(I couldn't find any further details, but I'll let you know when I do)

11 maggio • ore 11
Tavola Rotonda - Musei e patrimonio. Quale passato per quale futuro – Assemblea nazionale ICOM Italia
Museo di Capodimonte
A cura di ICOM (International Council of Museums)
Info: 081.4695693 www.icom-italia.org info@icom-italia.org

Percorsi di luce negli scavi di Pompei e di Ercolano

New flyers are being distributed for evening visits to Pompeii and Herculaneum with a "performance of sounds, lights and emotions".

Le antiche Pompei ed Ercolano sono scenario di un racconto suggestivo e affascinante. Suoni, giochi di luci, parole e immagini tra scavi monumentali: la nostra storia un sogno ad occhi aperti.

These should be taking place on weekends from May to October 2009. The only problem is that the website offered leads you to a similar initiative at the Royal Palace of Caserta, with no mention of the Vesuvian sites.
For those who are interested in booking a place the reservation line is (+39) 081 0093205 or info@percorsidiluce.it

These events have been going on at Pompeii for some years now, but were only launched at Herculaneum last summer. Let's hope that this time there is a marked improvement on last year's dreadful and over-priced performances...

Review: Buried Pleasure

An excellent review article by Glen Bowerstock in The New Republic.
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