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n at i o n a l g a l l e r y o a r t | o c t o b e r 1 9, 2 0 0 8 m a r c h 2 2 , 2 0 0 9
Pompeii and the Roman Villaa r t a n d c u l t u r e a r o u n d t h e b ay o n a p l e s
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beore mount vesuv ius erupted in ad 79 , the region
o Campania around the Bay o Naples was an artistic center
o great sophistication. Archaeological excavations have
uncovered not only Pompeii (g. 1), Herculaneum, and other
towns near Vesuvius, but also the remains o luxurious sea-
side villas built or prominent Romans (g. 2). They were
drawn to the bay by its beauty and thermal baths a legacy
o its volcanic geology as well as the lingering Greek culture
around Naples, a ormer Greek colony. The bays popularity
as a resort or vacationing Romans brought extraordinary
wealth to the area. Adding to its economic well-being was
the emperor Augustus designation o the port o Puteoli
(modern Pozzuoli, north o Naples) as the Italian entry pointor the enormous shipments o grain rom the province o
Egypt. The wealth, coupled with the great demand or works
o art to adorn the interior spaces and gardens o the vast
maritime villas, attracted artists rom ar and wide. Many o
them would also have ound clients among the well-to-do
townspeople o Pompeii and Herculaneum who emulated the
liestyles o the powerul elite. The art collections o both
villa owners and residents o the nearby towns demonstrate
their shared artistic tastes and cultural ideals, particularly a
reverence or classical Greece, which was seen as a Golden Age.
c: Garden scene,
p, h
g b, ,
1 bc 1 -
ad, uf s,
p (, . 65)
1. c Kk, The
Forum at Pompeii with
Vesuvius in the Background,
1841, , t
J. p g m,
l a (. 150)
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v illas , houses , and gardens
Roman aristocrats began constructing villas on the bay in the
second century bc. They retreated to these country estates,
especially in spring and summer, to enjoy their leisure (otium)and escape rom the pressures o business (negotium) in Rome.
Over the course o the next two centuries ruling amilies
arrived as well. Julius Caesar, the rst emperor Augustus, and
the emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero all had
residences on the bay. The presence o the imperial amilies
led to increasing numbers o villas or Romans eager to urther
their careers through access to the political elite in more relaxedsocial circumstances than was possible in Rome. So many villas
were built along the bay that the ancient historian Strabo said
they looked like one continuous city.
The sumptuous villas had extensive gardens and elegant
interior courtyards, some large enough to enclose a swimming
pool. Their aades were lined with colonnaded walkways
that oered the owners sweeping vistas o the sea, reached
by terraces leading down to private harbors or pleasure boats.The houses orming the dense city blocks o Pompeii and
Herculaneum turned a blank wall to the busy streets but
nonetheless shared certain eatures with the seaside villas.
In both, rooms were arranged around an atrium, which opened
to the sky to bring light to the interior and allow rainwater
to collect in a square basin (impluvium) set into the foor.
Some townspeople emulated eatures o villa architectureon a smaller scale, adding colonnaded (peristyle) courtyards,
baths, and interior gardens to their houses. According to
Vitruvius, writing in the rst century ad, the residences
o men o rank who, rom holding oces and magistracies,
have social obligations to their ellow citizens, [need] loty
entrance courts . . . . and most spacious atriums and peristyles . . . .
The rules on these points will hold not only or houses in
2. Two seaside villas,
p, 1 bc
1 ad, ,
m a
nz n (. 2)
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town, but also or those in
the country. . . (On Architecture
6.5.23).
The interiors o the
villas and many Pompeianhouses were lavishly deco-
rated, their walls sheathed
with colorul rescoes repre-
senting mythological scenes,
landscapes with views o the
bay and the villas lining its shores, and still lies celebrating
local delicacies rom the sea and the land made ertile by its
rich volcanic soil. Furnishings included marble tables (g. 3)and bronze lampstands, some even in the orm o statues.
In the grander houses, diners drank wine rom silver cups
decorated with olives (g. 4), vine leaves, or amous episodes
rom amiliar myths. Sculpted portraits o amily members
or ancestors, set up in reception areas, would have reminded
guests o the lineage o their hosts.
Gardens in and around the villas were accented withaviaries, ountains, and marble or bronze gurines that
spurted water into pools and watercourses. Houses in Pom-
peii were generally much smaller, but townspeople shared
the villa owners love o gardens. Even in modest houses, a
little garden might be tucked into the courtyard and embel-
lished with sculpture. I the spaces were too tight or actual
gardens, plants could be painted on the walls. The painted
3. Two table supports,
p, h g
c r, 1 -
ad, , uf
s, p (. 15)
4. Kantharos entwined with
olive branches, p,h m,
1 bc, ,
m a
nz n
(. 29)
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gardens visually expanded small ones, as in the so-called
House o the Golden Bracelet where rescoes o fowering
shrubs, birds, and ountains adjoined the real garden behind
the house (cover).
Garden sculpture oten represents rustic subjects,
including wild animals, or Dionysos, god o wine, with his
rowdy entourage o satyrs and maenads. Such works suggest
the wilder side o nature while taming it or the owners plea-
sure. Portraits o Greek thinkers and writers were also set up
in gardens, which, like libraries, were places or contemplation
and learning echoes o the pastoral setting o Platos Academy,
depicted in a mosaic rom a house in Pompeii that shows
Plato surrounded by philosophers at his school in a groveoutside Athens (g. 5).
legacy o greece
The region around the Bay o Naples had been colonized by
Greeks as early as the eighth century bc. The city o Neapolis
(modern Naples) was ounded around 600bc and did not
become a Roman municipality until 89bc. Like other cities
around the bay, it still retained its Greek character ater being
absorbed into the Roman sphere. The Greek favor was evident
even in the streets where some Romans sported Greek dress
rather than the togas worn in Rome.
The Roman conquest o Greece in 146bc spurred a
ascination with the countrys illustrious past as well as the
looting o masterpieces o Greek art, which victorious Roman
generals brought back to Italy to adorn public and privatespaces at home. The reverence or Greece, viewed as the
repository o culture, beauty, and
wisdom, culminated in the emperor
Augustus intent to revive during his
reign (27bcad14) the glories o
ancient Athens under the leadership
o Pericles in the th century bc. In
the words o the poet Horace, Captive
Greece took captive her savage con-
queror and brought civilization to the
rustic Latins.
Greek infuence pervaded the
decor o the villas around the Bay o
Naples and the houses o the elite in
5. Platos Academy, p-
, v t. s
s, 1
bc 1 ad,
, m a- nz n
(. 95)
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Pompeii and Herculaneum. For their owners, knowledge o
Greek culture was a status symbol and mark o renement
that was refected in the works o art they acquired. A portrait
o Homer (g. 6) or relies depicting episodes rom the Trojan
War conveyed their appreciation o Greek history. Busts o the
ourth-century bc playwright Menander suggested their enthu-
siasm or Athenian theater; and likenesses o the Greek philos-
opher Epicurus, who believed that pleasure is inherently good
and leads to happiness, attested to their amiliarity with his
hedonistic teachings.
Dining rooms or triclinia so called because they con-
tained three couches on which diners reclined while eat-
ing were oten painted with scenes rom Greek mythology.Excavations at the site o Moregine, south o Pompeii, have
uncovered an intriguing building complex, perhaps a villa,
perhaps an inn or the headquarters o a business. Frescoed on
the walls o one o its dining rooms are images o the god
Apollo, patron o the liberal arts, fanked by the muses (g. 7).
Their presence would have reminded guests o the pleasures
o intellectual and creative conversation, the ideal at any
Roman banquet.
Many Romans living near the Bay o Naples were avid
art collectors who prized copies ater Greek old masters.
So many versions oThe Three Graces (no. 110) survive that
they must stem rom a amous prototype, now lost. The
portrait o an athlete rom the Villa dei Papiri near Hercula-
neum (g. 8) echoes a ourth-century bc sculpture by Lysip-
pos, while the statue o a youth rom a Pompeian house(no. 104) harks back to Polykleitos Doryphoros (Spearbearer)
6. Homer, b, 1 -
bc 1 ad,
, o l
b m, l-
(. 92)
7.Apollo and the muse Clio,
m, t a,
1 ad, ,
uf s, p
( , . 111)
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o c. 440bc. The owners o such works must have taken
pride in possessing sculptures that recall two o the most
renowned artists o ancient Greece.
Some o the nest works o art
were carved in imported Greek marble;
others were ordered rom Greece or
created by Greek artists who had
moved to the Bay o Naples, attracted
by the opportunities aorded by the
wealthy patrons there. But most collec-
tors would have relied on local artists
amiliar with Greek models. The
works o art they commissionedbetween the rst century bc and the
rst century ad, either or their own
collections or or public display, were
made in styles rom various periods.
A statue o Aphrodite rom Puteoli
refects the infuence o classical Greek
art o the later th century bc in her
remote expression and the virtuoso
handling o her garment, which alls
in delicate, rippling olds (g. 9). Like
the marble emale torso rom the same
site (g. 10), the gures transparent
drapery clings to her body, revealing
a clear understanding o human anat-
omy. A more severe bronze statue o ayoung woman rom the Villa dei Papiri,
8. Victorious athlete, h-
, v p,
1 bc 1 -
ad, z, m
a nz
n (. 114)
9.Aphrodite, r t p,
1 ad, ,
m a
c (. 106)
10. Torso from a statue of
a woman, r t
p, 1 ad,
, m a-
c ,
b (. 12)
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i lm programs
East Building Auditorium
October 25, 2:00 pm
The Last Days o Pompeii: Lecture and Films
Martin M. Winkler, proessor o
classics, department o modern and
classical languages, George MasonUniversity
See the Calendar o Events and the
Film Calendar or urther details,
or go towww.nga.gov.
exh ib it ion i lm
Narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi,
this 30-minute lm examines
the explosion o artistic activity
on the Bay o Naples that began
in the rst century bc.
East Building Small Auditorium
Monday to Friday, noon to 3:00 pm
Weekends, noon to close
(with minor exceptions)
East Building Auditorium
Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday,
11:30 am (with minor exceptions)
This flm was made possible by
the HRH Foundation
concert
October 15
East Building Auditorium
Michele Campanella, pianist
Concerts at the National Gallery
o Art are open to the public ree o
charge, rst-come, rst-seated.
general inormation
Admission to the National Gallery
o Art and all o its programs is ree
o charge, except as noted.
Hours: Monday Saturday, 10:00
am 5:00 pm, Sunday, 11:00 am
6:00 pm. Gallery Web site:
www.nga.gov. For inormation aboutaccessibility, assistive listening
devices, sign-language interpreta-
tion, and other services, inquire
at the Inormation Desks, consult
the Web site, or call 202.842.6690
(tdd line 202.842.6176).
middle and h igh school
studio WorKshops
Studio Workshops include an
in-depth examination and discus-
sion o works o art in the galleries,
ollowed by a related, one-hour
studio project. Oered rom10:00 am to 12:30 pm on the ol-
lowing dates:
Middle School Students
November 6, 7, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
December 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
High School Students
January 20, 21, 22, 23
February 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 23, 24, 25,
26, 27
March 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17, 18, 19, 20
To register, e-mail your chosen
date and your name, the name
and address o your school, and
the school telephone number to
teacher WorKshops
February 4 and 11, 4:00 pm
Workshops include a tour othe exhibition, a discussion o
teaching applications, and
light rereshments. Registration
required. For details, visit http://
www.nga.gov/education/teacher.htm
or call 202.842.6276.
Introductory Slide Overviews / Adult Tours
Please consult the Calendar o
Events orwww.nga.gov or ull sched-
ule and program inormation.
audio guide
Narrated by National Gallery
director Earl A. Powell iii, this
tour includes commentary by guest
curator Carol Mattusch, George
Mason University; Mary Beard,
University o Cambridge; and
Kenneth Lapatin, The J. Paul Getty
Museum. The tour is available orrental at the entrance o the exhibi-
tion or $5.
To reserve audio tours or groups,
call 202.842.6592.
sunday lectures
East Building Auditorium
October 19, 2:00 pm
Finding Ancient Rome on the Bay o
Naples: An Introduction to Pompeii and
the Roman Villa
Carol Mattusch, Mathy Proessor oArt History, George Mason University
November 9, 2:00 pm
The Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture
in Italian Art
To Live with Myths in Pompeii and Beyond
Paul Zanker, proessor o art history,
Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
March 1, 2:00 pm
Is Anything New under the Sun? Environ-mental Quality around the Bay o Naples
in ad79 and the Present Day
Mark Walters, environmental
consultant and writer
March 8, 2:00 pm
The Society o Dilettanti: Grecian Taste
and Roman Spirit
Bruce Redord, proessor o art his-
tory and English, Boston University
Book signing oDilettanti: The Anticand the Antique in Eighteenth-Century
England to ollow
p u b l i c s y m p o s i u m
Roman Art and Culture on the Bay o Naples
March 20, 11:00 5:00 pm
March 21, 1:00 5:00 pm
East Building Auditorium
Illustrated lectures by noted scholars,
including John Bodel, Lucilla Burn,Faya Causey, John R. Clarke, Bjoern
Ewald, Nathalie Kampen, Barbara
Kellum, Miranda Marvin, Rebecca
Molholt, John Pollini, and Hrica
Valladares
catalogue
The ully illustrated, 383-page cata-
logue, Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art
and Culture around the Bay o Naples, is pub-lished by the National Gallery o
Art in association with Thames and
Hudson. Hardcover $60.00, sot-
cover $40.00.
on the Web
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/
pompeiiino.shtm
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8/9/2019 Pompeii Brochure Exposition
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with heavy drapery hanging in broad vertical olds, takes
inspiration rom an earlier phase in the development o the
classical style (g. 11).
Several works o sculpture ound in villas or houses
around the Bay o Naples recall the even earlier archaic style
current in Greece in the sixth century bc. The bronze statue
o a youth rom the House o Julius Polybius in Pompeii
echoes the archaic style in its sti rontal pose and stylized
hair arranged in tight curls resembling corkscrews or snail
shells (g. 12). Did Roman collectors think that such works
were actual Greek statues rom the sixth century bc or did
they know that they were buying contemporary versions o
antiques? Probably most were content with modern adapta-tions, but an archaistic bust o a youth suggests that some
buyers might have been ooled (g. 13). Found in the Villa dei
Papiri, the sculpture may be a orgery, cleverly designed with
11. Girl fastening her peplos,
h, v
p, 1 bc
1 ad, z,
m a nz-
n (. 103)
12. Tray-bearing youth orApollo, p, h
g J p, 1
bc 1
ad, z, uf s,
p (. 48)
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an irregularly shaped lower edge to give the impression that
the bust is a ragment broken o rom a ull-length ancient
Greek statue. Regardless o whether collectors believed such
works to be ancient or modern, their collections reveal that
the Roman reverence or the Greek past led them to acquireworks representing the art o Greece in all its variety as they
adopted Greek culture as their own.
The Greek-inspired works o art displayed in the villas
and town houses around the bay took on new meanings in
their Roman context. Monumental images o gods, goddesses,
or heroes such as Alexander the Great were scaled down to
become tabletop ornaments (g. 14). A statue evoking Apollotransormed the god o learning and the arts into a lampstand
(no. 44), shedding light, both literal and gurative, on Roman
gatherings. In Greece statues o gods and goddesses were set
up in sanctuaries and public places, but in Pompeii a sculp-
ture o Artemis (no. 102), goddess o the hunt, was installed
in a colonnade around a domestic garden; ormerly public art
became private.
destruction and discovery
The eruption o Vesuvius in ad79 brought nearly all this to
an end. From a villa at Misenum at the northern tip o the
bay, Pliny the Younger saw the cloud rising rom Vesuvius and,
soon ater, wrote two letters recording the event, Its general
appearance can best be expressed as being like a pine tree, or
13. Bust of a youth or
Apollo, h, v
p, 1 bc ,
z, m a-
nz n
(. 101)
14.Alexander the Great on
horseback, h,
1 bc 1 -
ad, z, m
a nz
n (. 116)
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it rose to a great height on a sort o trunk and then split o
into branches. I imagine . . . it was thrust upwards by the rst
blast . . . .broad sheets o re and leaping fames blazed at sev-
eral points . . . .The buildings were now shaking with violent
shocks and seemed to be swaying to and ro as i they were
torn rom their oundations.In the second letter he wrote,
Soon aterwards the cloud sank down to earth and covered
the sea . . . .We were terried to see everything changed, bur-
ied deep in ashes like snowdrits(Ep. 6.16, 6.20).When it
was over, Herculaneum and all but the highest parts o Pom-
peii lay beneath tons o volcanic debris. Cities arther away
were largely unaected; the discovery o the monumental
Aphrodite at Capua (no. 107) shows that artistic patronagecontinued at a very high level in parts o the region well ater
the eruption. But the towns and villas in the shadow o Vesu-
vius were abandoned and mostly orgotten until their discov-
ery in the eighteenth century.
Systematic excavations began at Herculaneum in 1738
and ten years later at Pompeii. In the ollowing decades,
archaeologists tunneling through solidied mud at Hercula-
neum ound the Villa dei Papiri and brought to light more
than eighty statues and about one thousand ancient papyri
inscribed with Greek texts. News o the discovery o the
ancient cities spread throughout Europe. Curious tourists
focked to the Bay o Naples, attracted also by bursts o volca-
nic activity rom Vesuvius (g. 15). Illustrated publications
15. J W, Vesuvius
from Portici, . 1774 1776,
, t h-
l, a c-
, b
g; aq w
c dk bq
(. 122)
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documenting the nds spawned a rage or antique styles,and reproductions o antiquities became a major industry thatcontinued throughout the nineteenth century.Sir LawrenceAlma-Tadema and other artists specialized in paintings such
asA Sculpture Gallery, 1874, in which Pompeian antiquities are
illustrated in exacting detail (g. 16). The ancient works o
art excavated (and still being ound) at the buried cities and
villas along the Bay o Naples aected the art, design, and
culture o Europe and eventually North America, where even
rooms in the United States Capitol were decorated in thePompeian style.
t w w s m. a w r m,
, f, n g
a. c 2008 b t, n g a, W.
Wk i sz
s b a n p.
16. s lw a-
t,A Sculpture Gal-
lery, 1874, ,
h m a,
d c,
h, nw h-
. g a m.
lw, c 1912a(. 143)
This brochure is
made possible by the
HRH Foundation.
The exhibition is organized
by the National Gallery
o Art, Washington, in
association with the Los
Angeles County Museum
o Art, with the cooperation
o the Direzione Regionale
per i Beni Culturali e Pae-
saggistici della Campania
and the Soprintendenza
Speciale per i Beni Archeo-
logici di Napoli e Pompei.
The exhibition in Wash-
ington is made possible by
The Exhibition Circle o
the National Gallery o Art.
It is also made possible
by Mr. and Mrs. Joe L.
Allbritton.
Bank o America is proud
to be the national sponsor.
The exhibition in Wash-
ington is also supported
by The Charles Engelhard
Foundation and by Mary
and Michael Jaharis.
Additional unding in
Washington is providedby the John J. Medveckis
Foundation and the
Malcolm Hewitt Wiener
Foundation.
The exhibition is supported
by an indemnity rom
the Federal Council on the
Arts and the Humanities.