Marble statuette of Venus, 1st century CE, excavated 1973, Villa Poppaea, Villa A Oplontis, near Pompeii |
Lapilli-encrusted bronze situla (storage vessel) 1st century CE, excavated 2018, House with the Garden, Regio V, Insula III |
Carbonised loaf of bread |
Fragment of a sundial, marble, paint, bronze, 1st century CE, excavated 1973, House of Julius Polybius, Regio IX, Insula XIII |
Silenus nursing baby Bacchus, marble table leg, 1st century CE, excavated 1896 House of the Prince of Naples, Regio VI, Insula XV |
Terracotta frying pan, 1st century CE, excavated 1975, House of Julius Polybius kitchen, Regio IX, Insula XIII |
Terracotta cooking pot, 1st century CE, excavated 1975, House of Julius Polybius, Regio IX, Insula XIII |
Terracotta jug with incised letters, 1st century CE, excavated 1967, House of Julius Polybius, Regio IX, Insula XIII |
Terracotta bowl, terra sigillata, 1st century CE, excavated 1964-70, House of Julius Polybius, Regio IX, Insula XIII |
Terracotta cup with incised letters, 1st century CE, excavated 1975, House of Julius Polybius, Regio IX, Insula XIII |
Bronze Oenochoe (jug), 1st century CE, excavated 1978, House of Julius Polybius, triclinium (dining room) Regio IX, Insula XIII |
Bronze applique (figure of a dog), probably from a piece of furniture, 1st century CE, excavated 1978, House of Julius Polybius, triclinium (dining room) Regio IX, Insula XIII |
Bronze, silver, copper Patera (ritual dish), 1st century CE, excavated 1978, House of Julius Polybius, triclinium (dining room) Regio IX, Insula XIII |
The National Museum of Australia's latest summer blockbuster exhibition, Pompeii: Inside a Lost City, opened on Friday 13th December 2024 and runs until 4 May 2025. The exhibition is in collaboration with Archeologico Di Pompei and Gedeon Programmes, with about 90 objects on loan from the former and all the audio visual content provided by the latter. Unfortunately there was no catalogue this year and some of my caption photos didn't turn out so some objects have minimal or no information about them. Apologies for this and the quality of the photos! There are half dozen articles on the exhibition in The Museum, the magazine for the National Museum of Australia.
A really major part of the exhibition is the audio visual content. From the overwhelming CGI generated reconstruction of the eruption, to stunning videos of frescoes in various villas and multiple, interesting, short videos on recent excavations and various aspects of Pompeii. We visited the incredible sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 2009 and these were definitely highlights of our trip to Italy. I have only taken photos of the objects but the videos really do add an extra dimension to the exhibition which is best seen in person. I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy gaming, painting and blogging for 2025!
Silver spoon, 1st century CE, excavated 1935, Regio I, Insula VIII, Silver Simplum (ladle), 1st century CE, excavated 1915, Regio III, Insula II |
Silver cup with embossed cupids, 1st century CE, excavated 1984, Villa 2, Cava Ranieri, Terzigno, near Pompeii |
Bronze statuette of Lares, 1st century CE, excavated 1956, lararium (household shrine), Regio I, Insula XVI Bronze statuette of Mercury, 1st century CE, excavated 1908, Boscoreale, near Pompeii |
Nymphaeum (water feature), first half of the 1st century CE, House of the Golden Bracelet, Regio VII, Insula XVII |
Bone dice and a bronze ring? |
Silver mirror |
Bone comb and pins |
Spoons |
Bronze oil lamp and Situla (storage vessel) |
Glass jar |
Plaster cast of a wicker basket |
Resin casts of victims of the eruption |
Front on view of the same resin casts of victims of the eruption |