28 March – 29 September
2013
Reading Room
Sponsored by Goldman Sachs
Sponsored by Goldman Sachs
In Spring 2013 the British Museum will present a
major exhibition on the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, sponsored by
Goldman Sachs. This exhibition will be the first ever held on these important
cities at the British Museum, and the first such major exhibition in London for
almost 40 years. It is the result of close collaboration with the
Archaeological Superintendency of Naples and Pompeii, will bring together over
250 fascinating objects, both recent discoveries and celebrated finds from
earlier excavations. Many of these objects have never before been seen outside
Italy.
The exhibition will have a unique focus, looking at the Roman home and
the people who lived in these ill-fated cities.
Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum
said "This will be a major exhibition for the British Museum in 2013, made
possible through collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of
Naples and Pompeii which has meant extremely generous loans of precious objects
from their collections, some that have never travelled before.
I am delighted
that Goldman Sachs is sponsoring this important exhibition and am extremely
grateful to them for their support."
"It is a privilege to be partnering with the
British Museum for this incredibly exciting exhibition, which offers a
fascinating insight into daily life at the heart of the Roman Empire",
said Richard Gnodde, Co Chief executive of Goldman Sachs International.
"We recognize the importance of supporting cultural platforms such as this
and we are delighted to offer our support to help bring this unique experience
to London."
Pompeii and Herculaneum, two cities on the Bay of
Naples in southern Italy, were buried by a catastrophic volcanic eruption of
Mount Vesuvius in just 24 hours in AD 79. This event ended the life of the
cities but at the same time preserved them until rediscovery by archaeologists
nearly 1700 years later. The excavation of these cities has given us
unparallelled insight into Roman life.
Owing to their different locations Pompeii and
Herculaneum were buried in different ways and this has affected the
preservation of materials at each site. Herculaneum was a small seaside town
whereas Pompeii was the industrial hub of the region. Work continues at both
sites and recent excavations at Herculaneum have uncovered beautiful and
fascinating artefacts. These include treasures many of which will be displayed
to the public for the first time, such as finely sculpted marble reliefs,
intricately carved ivory panels and fascinating objects found in one of the
main drains of the city.
The exhibition will give visitors a taste of the
daily life of the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum, from the bustling street
to the family home. The domestic space is the essential context for people’s
lives, and allows us to get closer to the Romans themselves. This exhibition
will explore the lives of individuals in Roman society, not the classic figures
of films and television, such as emperors, gladiators and legionaries, but
businessmen, powerful women, freed slaves and children. One stunning example of
this material is a beautiful wall painting from Pompeii showing the baker
Terentius Neo and his wife, holding writing materials showing they are literate
and cultured. Importantly their pose and presentation suggests they are equal
partners, in business and in life.
The emphasis on a domestic context also helps
transform museum artefacts into everyday possessions. Six pieces of wooden
furniture will be lent from Herculaneum in an unprecedented loan by the
Archaeological Superintendency of Napels and Pompeii. These items were
carbonized by the high temperatures of the ash that engulfed the city and are
extremely rare finds that would not have survived at Pompeii – showing the
importance of combining evidence from the two cities. The furniture includes a
linen chest, an inlaid stool and even a garden bench. Perhaps the most
astonishing and moving piece is a baby’s crib that still rocks on its curved
runners.
The exhibition will include casts from in and
around Pompeii of some of the victims of the eruption. A family of two adults
and their two children are huddled together, just as in their last moments
under the stairs of their villa. The most famous of the casts on display is of
a dog, fixed forever at the moment of its death as the volcano submerged the
cities.
Sponsored by Goldman Sachs
In collaboration with Soprintendenza Speciale per
i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei
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