A Visit to Pompeii, Just Inside Washington, D.C.

There is a wonderful Pompeii exhibit being shown at the National Gallery of Art right now, one of the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. Its run ends on March 22, after which it will move across the country and be shown in Los Angeles starting in May before being returned later this year to its rightful place on the other side of the ocean.

My wife and I have been to the actual city of Pompeii, thankfully many years after Vesuvius got angry and spouted lava all over the place (I know you know, but just in case you've forgotten, that happened in 79 AD). But it's a different experience walking through the actual town and seeing a number of pieces artfully shown together in one place, such as was the case in this exhibit.

The first five photos are on the approach to the exhibit. No photography was allowed inside the exhibit, so I've scanned images from the brochure we were given so you can get an idea of what we saw. The pieces are so well-preserved (lava will do that).


Garden Scene, Pompeii, House of the Golden Bracelet, fresco, 1st century BC - 1st Century AD, Ufficio Scavi, Pompeii


The Forum at Pompeii with Vesuvius in the Background, Christian Kobke, 1841, oil on canvas, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles


Two seaside villas, Pompeii, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, fresco, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Kantharos entwined with olive branches, Pompeii, House of the Menander, 1st century BC, silver, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Two table supports, Pompeii, House of Gaius Cornelius Rufus, 1st century AD, marble, Ufficio Scavi, Pompeii


Plato's Academy, Pompeii, Villa of T. Siminius Stephanus, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, mosaic, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Apollo and the muse Clio, Moregine, Triclinium A, 1st century AD, fresco, Ufficio Scavi, Pompeii


Homer, Baiae, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, marble. On Loan from the British Museum, London


Aphrodite, Rione Terra at Puteoli, probably early 1st century AD, marble, Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei, Baia


Victorius Athlete, Herculaneum, Villa dei Papiri, 1st century BC, silver, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Torso from a statue of a woman, Rione Terra at Puteoli, 1st century AD, marble, Museo Archeologico dei Campi Fiegrei, Baia


Tray-bearing youth or Apollo, House of Gaius Julius Polybius, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, bronze, Ufficio Scavi, Pompeii


Girl fastening her peplos, Herculaneum, Villa dei Papiri, bronze, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, mosaic, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Alexander the Great on horseback, Herculaneum, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, bronze, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Bust of a youth or Apollo, 1st century BC, bronze, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Vesuvius from Portici, Joseph Wright, c. 1774-1776, oil on canvas, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.


A Sculpture Gallery, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1874, oil on canvas, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire