Mobile set to host major Pompeii Exhibition
Pompeii's haunting body cast expected to capture emotions
MOBILE, Ala. – More than 250 artifacts direct from Pompeii, Italy have been unpacked and installed as Mobile’s Gulf Coast Exploreum gets set to host the international blockbuster exhibition A Day in Pompeii. Mobile is the first presentation in the southeast of an exhibition on Pompeii, the ancient Roman city destroyed and buried in 79 A.D. by the catastrophic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Exhibit dates are January 12 to June 3, 2007.
The presentation is a collaboration of the Gulf Coast Exploreum and the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, the Italian governmental agency responsible for the archeological site.
The highlight for many visitors will be eight of Pompeii’s famous body casts – victims of the volcano – caught in their final moments of life.
“How meaningful for Gulf Coast residents, who themselves so recently experienced the power of Mother Nature, to meet “face-to-face” individuals who died in a natural disaster almost 2000 years ago,” noted Michael Sullivan, Exploreum Executive Director. The casts provide detailed images of Pompeii’s citizens as they fell on that fateful August day long ago – a man holding a cloth to his mouth, a couple embracing, a slave with ankle manacle still in place.
The haunting figures were first made in the 1860’s by pouring plaster into the cavities left in the thick volcanic materials after the bodies of the trapped victims decayed.
Also on display in the Exploreum’s gallery will be brightly-colored, room-sized frescoes, marble and bronze sculptures, exquisite jewelry, gold coins and everyday household items. All evoke the richness, culture, and bustle of daily life in the Roman Empire’s favorite vacation resort, situated near Italy’s beautiful Amalfi Coast. These exceptional objects were recovered from almost 30 feet of volcanic material, where they lay buried for over 17 centuries.
Guiseppe Zolfo, a 26-year veteran of conservation work at Pompeii, traveled to Mobile to help install the exhibition over 15 days. His favorite artifact in the exhibition is a 15-foot-long garden fresco, taken from the House of the Golden Bracelet. “Frescos with garden themes have rarely been displayed outside Pompeii and I think this will be a special treat for visitors in Mobile to see the many plants, birds and garden decorations depicted in this painting,” said Zolfo.
Exhibits of the rarity, emotional content, quality and name-recognition of Pompeii are hard to find and rarely travel to the U.S. “We jumped at the chance to bring such a world-renowned exhibition to Mobile and the Gulf Coast,” said Sullivan. A similar exhibition on Pompeii was visited by over 300,000 visitors in 2006 at Chicago’s Field Museum.
A Day in Pompeii is scheduled to travel to three other U.S. cities after Mobile: St. Paul, MN, in 2007 and San Diego, CA, and Charlotte, NC, in 2008.
Related programs
The Exploreum has scheduled complementary IMAX® and Virtual Journeys programs in its two specialty theaters to show concurrently with the Pompeii exhibition. “As always, we will use the Exploreum’s leading-edge imaging technologies to ‘bump up’ the visitor’s experience to eye-popping, ‘you-are-there’ levels,” Sullivan said.
The IMAX film Greece: Secrets of the Past gives audiences a large-screen look at another ancient civilization and the massive volcanic eruption that all but destroyed Santorini in 1646 B.C. The Exploreum’s Hearin-Chandler Virtual Journeys Theater offers a virtual stroll through Pompeii’s Theater District, as it might have appeared before the eruption of Vesuvius.
An audio tour of the Pompeii exhibit, produced by Acoustiguide, Inc., is included with most admissions.
In addition, the Exploreum has scheduled a 6-week lecture series with experts speaking on various aspects of Pompeian and Roman life and habits as well as a living history tableau (Feb. 3 and 4) of a Roman legion encampment, known as Castra Romana. See www.exploreum.net for more information on these complementary programs.
Hours of Operation
Open daily January 12 to June 3, 2007 except Mardi Gras (Feb. 20) and Easter Sunday (Apr. 8). Open Monday – Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Last exhibit entry 4 p.m.; gallery closes 5:30 p.m.
Last IMAX show 4 p.m.
Last Virtual Journey Tour of Pompeii 4:30 p.m.
Ticket Prices: For Pompeii exhibit, Acoustiguide audio tour, virtual tour of Pompeii and all Exploreum science galleries: adult $18.25; senior (60+); youth (13-18) $17.25; child (2-12) $11. Add the IMAX film on Greece to any admission for only $4 more.
For more information, call (251) 208-6873 or (877) 625-4FUN; or visit www.exploreum.net.
