Category: Pompeii

Pompeii Tidbits

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

An item in Adnkronos about a theme parkish thing called Italia in Miniatura includes this little item at the end:

But there is still more to come and soon Italia in Miniatura will be expanding and the expansion of the theme park means double the surface area and the introduction of extraordinary interactive attractions, first among all the 1:1.33 scale reproduction of ancient Pompeii reproduced in its original aspect and where visitors can walk inside houses, on the streets and in the temples where staff will simulate daily life scenes. Then when the sun goes down there will be a reproduction of the Last Day in Pompeii, invaded by the river of magma and smoke of a Vesuvius which suddenly erupts again. The project also forecasts the realization of two new structures: a 17 meter tall Coliseum in 1:3 scale with respect to the original one in Rome and a Science Centre.

In other Pompeii news, ANSA reports on a conference going on, the gist of which is:

A series of debates over the two-day event will focus on the impact of Pompeii in a variety of fields.

The film talks will include one on the gap between reality and cinematic accounts of Pompeii, and one on representations of Pompeii in late 20th-century cinema.

Among the art topics are discussions on early landscape paintings of Pompeii, postcard precursors designed as mementoes for travellers, and Pompeii as an iconic representation in 19th and 20th-century art. Religion will be touched upon with discoveries of early Christian imagery in Pompeii and how Pompeii has figured in speeches by the current pope, Benedict XVI, and his predecessor John Paul II. A talk entitled ”The Revival of Pompeii” will look at renowned reconstructions of Pompeian buildings ordered by King Ludwig I of Bavaria, artist Pablo Picasso and industrialist and collector J. Paul Getty, all of whom fell in love with the destroyed city and sought to recreate part of it for themselves. There will also be discussions on how the city has appeared in European literature, its portrayal at the theatre and its role within the theories of Sigmund Freud.

New From Herculaneum – A Depiction of the Oschophoria?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Tip o’ the pileus to Francesca Tronchin for alerting us to a post at Blogging Pompeii about a new item installed at the National Museum of Naples’ Herculaneum section. For a full description, visit Blogging Pompeii, which includes this image (which is also available in much larger format there):

The official description suggests this is a Dionysiac scene, although they really aren’t very specific about it. It is much more interesting than the official description suggests, I think. When I first saw this (via my iPod), I wondered whether the two figures on the left were actually males in women’s garb (as does FT), and it is now clear that they are. The figure’s hair is clearly male hair cut close to the head (compare it to the dancing woman to the right), and they sport male cloaks over their female dress (and I’m not sure they are even Greek cloaks; they look rather Roman/Gallic to me). Whatever the case, men dressed as women in a Dionysiac context enables us to be rather more specific with the identification of what this scene depicts … the Oschophoria. Here’s what William Smith’s Dictionary says about this:
Text not available
A dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities By William Smith, Charles Anthon

Text not available
A dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities By William Smith, Charles Anthon

If you’re not a fan of reading clips from googlebooks, the same info (with appropriate links) is available at Lacus Curtius. But even if you don’t want to go to Lacus Curtius for an explanation of that, you will want to read there the excerpt from Plutarch’s life of Theseus, which adds a bit more explanation to the scene:

Whence it is, they say, that to this day, at the festival of the Oschophoria, it is not the herald that is crowned, but his herald’s staff, and those who are present at the libations cry out: “Eleleu! Iou! Iou!” the first of which cries is the exclamation of eager haste and triumph, the second of consternation and confusion.

So the mysterious thing in the hand of the individual on the left is likely a herald’s staff, although it seems rather short. A nice piece …

ADDENDA (09/21/09): just to clarify, the key elements identifying it as the Oschophoria are the two youths on the left (males in the guise of women) and the two on the right (Dionysus and Ariadne dancing). The Priapus seems Dionysian as well …

Modified Cookie Cutter Houses at Pompeii?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

Science Daily picks up this item from NWO which originally hit the interweb back in January:

Metrological analysis of ancient houses reveals the use of standard models that were ingeniously adapted to suit individual situations.

Pre-Roman atrium houses exhibited a striking number of similarities as part of a long Italic building tradition. Dutch researcher Noor van Krimpen analysed the measurements of primary mansions in Pompeii. As buildings were constructed according to a standard model, the adaptations to that model, required by the economical, practical and social demands of any particular project, provide a lot of information about the social significance of the houses of Pompeii’s elite.

Noor van Krimpen has added a new weapon to the archaeologist’s arsenal; the metrological analysis. This was already used to find out more about the design aspects of historical constructions. Van Krimpen, however, has now also used the method to add to our knowledge of the social significance of the houses of Pompeii’s elite. The main advantage of using metrological analysis is that it does not require further excavations and so the remains are kept intact.
The ideal measurements

The elite in Pompeii had architects to design their houses. Van Krimpen has demonstrated that these architects worked according to geometric figures and proportions, expressed in arithmetic approximations, a well-known tradition of classical mathematics. This resulted in a number of standard sets of ratios that were used by architects in the design of houses.

Despite the fact that the atrium houses in Pompeii show a high degree of homogeneity – all having been splendidly built around a so-called atrium, an inner courtyard with or without a roof – the architect’s skill and clients personal wishes ensured that each house retained an original character.
Dress to impress

Van Krimpen used a metrological analysis to establish what the original design must have been before subsequently examining how the houses were adapted to the particular circumstances. The adaptations revealed how a client exerted his influence on a design and how each situation required a unique solution. The primary mansions were mainly intended to receive friends and other notable persons and so had to be designed accordingly.

The Pompeii elite tried to maintain the illusion of a perfect home. The central symmetry was not solely maintained by juggling with the dimensions of the rooms. Van Krimpen even demonstrated how two neighbours had cooperated to outdo a third neighbour, one of the richest men in the city. They let their two houses be built behind a single facade so that their property appeared to be as big as that of their neighbour.

Van Krimpen investigated 18 primary mansions from Pompeii. Her research formed part of the broader project RUSPA (Ricerche Urbanistiche Su Pompei Antica) and was funded by NWO.

… the research was Van Krimpen’s doctoral thesis …