Blogging from Pompei, Italy on October 13, 2019
Bloggers: Mila and Ben
Steps Taken: 12,100
After a long day in the ruins of Pompeii yesterday, we headed to the Museo Archeologico Nationalze de Napoli (MANN). Upon arriving at the museum, we were thrilled to meet up again with our new friend and fellow Classics enthusiast, Terrence, from our previous exploration of the Paestum museum. Armed with our museum guides and our newfound knowledge of Pompeii, we set out into the museum.
We began by bee-lining it to the famous Alexander mosaic, a replica of which we saw in the House of the Faun in Pompeii. Perhaps the most famous and celebrated mosaic from Pompeii, it attracts a never ending crowd of tour groups and tourists, so Professor Stewart made sure we were the first ones in front of it this morning. The mosaic is simply breathtaking: a young and brave Alexander the Great, riding a horse and leading his men into battle, is pictured on the left while a petrified Persian King and army approach from the right. Major themes of the scene that we discussed included Greeks vs. Barbarians, free fighting individuals vs. slaves, triangular forms used to create visual sight lines within artwork, and the larger claims this piece would have made to those visiting the house of this aristocrat during a dinner party. We then stepped back, satisfied that we had enough viewing time with the piece as the tour groups descended upon the mosaic like locusts.
Another highlight from the morning included scenes from Roman theater. The small size of the tesserae, which are the small pieces of tile that create the mosaics, astonished all of us. With these minuscule sized tesserae the images had life-like qualities to them, down to flowing wisps of hair, contour and coloring of the faces, and even accentuations of tendons in the figures’ legs. These images serve as invaluable tools for the study of Roman theater as they give us insights into the visual presentations of everyday life scenes that are lost in the literary and other historical sources. The rest of our morning in the museum was filled with more of these incredible mosaic and other painted scenes from Pompeii.
We then devoted some time to understanding the four styles of wall painting found in Pompeii: First Style, in which walls are painted to look like marble; Second Style, in which walls are painted to resemble architectural features; Third Style, in which the architectural features are more elongated and fantastical, and Fourth Style, in which small pictures and figures are painted in the spaces in between the fantastical architectural features. The MANN has a very big collection of these frescoes, so we were able to build a good understanding of the distinguishing elements of these four styles before breaking for lunch.
Unfortunately, Professor Stewart’s favorite pizza place near the museum was closed, so we found another restaurant to have Neapolitan pizza. We ended up eating across the street from the museum, and the food did not disappoint. Very full, we returned to the museum after lunch to study gender roles in the aforementioned fresco collection.
After an hour and a half of study, we took the train back to our hotel in Pompei. Between arriving in Pompei and having dinner, we read Pliny the Younger’s letters about the eruption of Vesuvius – those who have Latin read with Professor Stewart, while the rest read the letters in English. The letters further enhanced our understanding of life in Pompeii developed over the course of our time on site, while also illustrating the panic and chaos (which Pliny and his uncle met with great courage) that the eruption caused. Our day ended with a long dinner at our hotel, during which we met an enormous Danish tour group that is also staying here.
A presto!