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Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption
Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham, Alabama
October 14, 2007 - Sunday, January 27, 2008

Head of Apollo
Title: Head of Apollo, 1st C AD
Detail of fresco from the north wall of triclinium A
in the Building of the Triclinia in Moregrine
(slightly south of Pompeii).
Image Courtesy: Birmingham Museum of Art

Head of an Amazon
Title: Head of an Amazon, mid-1st C AD
Found at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum,
this is one of the best Roman copies of a type of
Amazon of the Classical period, called ‘Sciarra’,
the original of which is attributed
either to the sculptor Kresilas or to Polyclitus.
Medium: Marble
Image Courtesy: Birmingham Museum of Art

Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD destroying Pompeii and nearby Italian coastal resort towns of Herculaneum, Oplontis and Terzigno.

Detail of a bronze dining couch with restored wooden parts
Title: Detail of a bronze dining couch with restored wooden parts, 1st C AD.
Found in the House of the Menander in Pompeii.
Image Courtesy: Birmingham Museum of Art

"Their tragedy is archaeology's good fortune," says Birmingham Museum of Art guest curator Robin Meador-Woodruff. "Because these ancient Roman cities' sudden destruction preserved the remains and possessions of inhabitants, the sites yielded extraordinary architecture, art, and organic and human remains."

The exhibit Tales from an Eruption captures the terrifying last moments of those directly in the Volcano's path who were overtaken by a downpour of ash and searing gases as they fled their homes. How they lived? What they took as they fled? How they died? Each question is examined.

Gold necklace
Title: Gold necklace, 1st C AD.
This necklace, or catena,
is made up of ninety-four ivy leaves of gold foil,
joined by small rings—partly covered
by small bosses—and fastened with two large,
smooth circular bosses.
Found in the Vicolo di Thesmus (Alley of Thesmus) in Pompeii.
Image Courtesy: Birmingham Museum of Art

Pair of gold snake-shaped armbands
Title: Pair of gold snake-shaped armbands
Image Courtesy: Birmingham Museum of Art

Included are life-size marble statues, gold jewelry, bronzes, gladiatorial armor, mosaics and frescoes illustrating Roman political life and Greek mythology discovered in abandoned villas and homes.

The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius
Title: The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, 1777
Artist: Pierre-Jacques Volaire
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh.
Purchased with funds from
the Alcy C. Kendrick Bequest
and the State of North Carolina, by exchange.
Image Courtesy: Birmingham Museum of Art

"Art and architecture, archeology and geology, city planning and history, food and medicine--it all comes together in this exhibit to tell the stories of their lives," says Birmingham Museum of Art Director Gail Andrews. "Visitors will be stunned by the beauty."


Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption:
Birmingham Museum of Art:
October 14, 2007 - Sunday, January 27, 2008

Birmingham Museum of Art

www.artsbma.org

© 2007 International Art Treasures Web Magazine, All Rights Reserved.