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Ongoing – Feb. 12 Is Pompeii the most famous doomed city of all time? That’s not something any city aspires to, but due to the abruptness of what happened – the eruption of Mount Vesuvius wiping out the city in one day, that day being August 24, 79 A.D. – it may be just that. Of c ourse, we’d not have known so much about this – to say nothing of seeing the artifacts from it – if not for an accidental discovery in 1749 and subsequent excavations. Some of those artifacts – from pots and pans to statues, gold bracelets and surgical instruments – are on display at the Museum of Science’s “A Day In Pompeii,” which is up through Feb. 12.
I took in the exhibit recently. Like most exhibits of this sort, you need to get our head in the zone. That means ignoring your fellow exhibit trawlers and focus on what you see and feel, time trip as it were. Two things that help: The exhibit has these time-lapse films, one a computer-generated flyover of the city’s buildings, showing marketplaces, homes, courtyards and public baths. The second recreates the volcano’s eruption and how the city was engulfed.
The most poignant, and haunting images are human. Most of the citizens escaped. Tourists, too, we assume as Pompeii was a destination vacation spot for Roman nobles. But some of the less connected (or maybe less prescient) tried to seek shelter and then, when that didn’t seem to be working, flee, which didn’t work out so well, either They ran then came the wet scalding ash. And there were the slaves. They didn’t have much choice in the matter. They were doomed. So, yes, the exhibit does make you consider the glory days of the Roman Empire, which was glorious for the prosperous, not so much for the underclass. (Sound like anything you know in modern days?)
Some of Pompeii’s victims were trapped by falling wet ash and trapped forever. The bodies decomposed, of course, but the spaces they occupied remained. In 1860, an Italian archaeologist struck upon the idea of pouring plaster into the cavities. Once the plaster set and the surrounding ash was removed, you got the images of human beings (and animals) caught at the moment of death. These casts – or others like them – are at the back of the 13,000 square foot exhibit hall. Ambient Eno-esque music wafts through the low-lit room. You move among the 30 or so casts that were found in a town just northwest of Pompei. You see two slaves handcuffed together, a man and a woman, a woman face down her hand covering her mouth.
It’s not doom and gloom. We learn about the customs and habits of the people who lived there – what they ate, who they worshipped, how they bathed (all together now!). So, you assimilate the culture and then see how it all came to a grinding halt.
Want to get in the mood? Check out Nova Mob’s “These Are the Last Days of the City of Pompeii,” the title track from the 1995, a concept album about the whole ordeal by ex-Husker Du drummer Grant Hart and his band.
http://youtu.be/1EtAFf2iql0 Admission is $27 to the whole museum and that includes a timed ticket to Pompeii. The hours are generally 9-5 and 9-9 Fridays, but check the website as some days it closes earlier. Also check the site for various Pompeii related events, from dinners to speakers. 1 Science Park, 617-723-2500 www.mos.org |
