With an intense and poignant voice, Sarah Jane Morris sends her message of great closeness to the migrants from all the world. It is the cry of solidarity that Pompeii expressed through the video clip recorded in the Small Theater of the ruins and in some rooms of the Villa of the Mysteries, made by the British jazz singer together with the guitarist Antonio Forcione.
The video idea came after a visit to the excavations that left enchanted the artists, who were inspired by the timeless atmosphere of the site. They asked to pay homage to the ancient city with one of their songs, called “The sea”, with a strong social message, dedicated to the tragedy of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea and recorded exclusively for the Pompeii Superintendency. The song is part of the album “Compared to what”, an intense work not only from a musical point of view, but also for the content, with pieces dedicated to sensitive issues such as the refugees, violence against women, insecurity on the future of the times that we live in. Sarah Jane Morris is a singer who became famous for her participation in the album of the same name of the Communards, in which she duets with Jimmy Somerville in the song “Do not Leave Me This Way”. She recorded some solo albums, which have achieved success especially in Italy and Greece. In 1991 she collaborated in the rock opera The Fall of the House of Usher by Peter Hammill (music) and Judge Smith (pamphlet), in which she played the part of the choir. Antonio Forcione is a famous Italian guitar player who shared the stage and recorded with some of the world’s most accomplished musicians including Charlie Haden, Angelique Kidjo, Trilok Gurtu, Larry Coryell, Diego el Cigala and many more, as well as supporting giants music stars as Phil Collins, Bobby McFerrin, Zucchero and Van Morrison amongst others. Together they have each been compared to an impressive array of musical geniuses including Janice Joplin and Tom Waits (vocally) as well as Jimi Hendrix (instrumentally) – a comparison Antonio wears with pride. They also exude a wonderful chemistry when performing together. The album “Compared To What” is the result of this fruitful and varied songwriting collaboration. It covers a number of traumatic social issues and many songs of emotional intensity, which reflect the urgent concern both artists feel for the tragedy of refugees. Eight tracks on the 12-track album are original material co-written by Morris and Forcione and with some of the lyrics by Johny Brown, Sarah-Jane's long term collaborator. Alongside the songs of conscience, the album includes some wry comedy, love songs and some memorable covers, notably Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and The Police’s classic “Message In A Bottle”. “Compared To What” touches heights of great musical beauty both in Antonio’s unique virtuoso guitar playing and Sarah-Jane’s legendary octave- spanning voice, now more subtle and persuasive than ever, with range and power undiminished. The album is a triumph of collaboration between two of the most individual and richly talented musicians on the world stage. You can find below the link to the video: https://youtu.be/NTbZatr_IP8 Come join us on an adventure through time by booking one of our special guided tours through the ruins of Pompeii.
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Discovering the Temple of Isis
The Egyptian cults in Pompeii took place publicly, in the temple, and in private, inside small temples called “Larari”, created in the houses. The most important public building for the Egyptian cults had to be the Temple of Isis. The temple is located in the so-called theater district, an area strongly characterized by the erection of various cultural buildings, inspired by Hellenistic models. Its discovery, happened in the 1764, dates back to the first phase of the excavations. The diggers did not know to be in front of the one of Pompei worship that showcased a complete decoration, thanks to the restoration that had been made after the earthquake of 62 AD. At the time of the eruption in 79 AD, the Temple of Isis was in fact the only public building to be completely restored. Accordance with the practice of the time, after the discovery, figurative paintings were removed and placed in the Museum of Portici and can still be seen at the National Museum of Naples, in a recently set-up that allows you to get an idea of the original arrangement on the walls of the various rooms. The Temple of Isis dates back to the second century B.C. but the current system is due, however, to the period subsequent to the restructuring made after the earthquake of the 62 A.D. An inscription surmounting the entrance to the temple reads it: “N(umerius) Popidius N(umeri) f(ilius) Celsinus aedem Isidis terrae motu conlapsam a fundamento p(equnia) s(ua) restituit; hunc decuriones ob liberalitatem, cum esset annorum sexs, ordini suo gratis adlegerunt”. “Numerio Popidio Celsinus, son of Numerio, rebuilt from the ground up, at his own expense, the Temple of Isis, which collapsed in the earthquake. For his munificence the settlers, even though he was only six, admitted him to their order for free”. But, what about how it is made? A porticoed courtyard, with stuccoed Corinthian columns, hosts the temple on a podium in its center, built at the end of the 2nd cent. BC and rebuilt in opus latericium immediately after the earthquake in 62 AD by N. Popidius Ampliatus, who gave credit for it to his son Celsinus to advance the latter's political career. The front steps lead to the pronaos, with four columns in front and two on the sides, and two side niches that held statues of Anubis and Harpokrates, Egyptian divinities related to the cult of Isis. At the back, in the wide cell, was the base for the religious statues, perhaps including the one of Isis found in the portico. Various service and worship rooms open along the portico, while the inside contains a well in the northeast corner, the purgatorium (fenced area with water basin used in purification rites), and altars. Rich sculptural, stucco and 'fourth style' painted plaster decorations abounded, detached during the excavation years (1764-1766) and now at the Naples Museum. Come to Pompeii to discover the wonders of this beautiful temple! Take a tour of Pompeii with us and time travel to the past! Start by viewing our tours here. Or call our Pompeii office at +39 081 1877 7006. This article has the purpose to put in evidence all the newest openings that you can admire during 2017 in Pompeii. So, before planning a journey to Pompeii, enjoy this helpful reading!
The House of Obellius Firmus (Regio IX, Insula 14, n. 3-4) is one of the largest houses in Pompeii. Once, an aristocratic family lived there and its last owner was M. Obellius Firmus. A clear sign of its wealth is the iron and bronze strongbox, which was discovered in the atrium and is now exposed there. The House of Marcus Lucretius Fronto (Regio V, Insula 4) is an elegant dwelling dating back to the II century BC. As the inscriptions on the façade suggest, the owner was probably Marcus Lucretius Fronto, a brilliant politician. The house has remarkable frescoes inside. The House of the Small Lupanar (Regio IX, Insula 5, n. 16) is now open for the first time ever. This building might have been an inn, where in the spaces intended for the innkeeper and his family, there was a secluded room for the purchase of sexual services. Actually, the erotic pictures decorating the room prove its function and probably aimed to advertise the sexual services offered. The House of Vettii (Regio VI, Insula 15, n. 1), as already said in a previous article here on our blog, is one of the richest and most famous houses in Pompeii. Now tourists may visit the entrance, the atrium with the surrounding cubicula, the triclinium with the wonderful set of mythological frescoes. Once, the atrium had bronze strongboxes on the either side and their rich decorations symbolise the wealth of the house. Now, one of them comes back to its original location. The house was under the protection of Priapus, who is represented with an oversized phallus on the right of the room. The picture is on view again, after the restoration. The god represented the wealth of the two owners, the brothers Aulus Vettius Restitutus and Conviva, who were freed slaves, who got rich thanks to their trade. The House of Adonis is best-known for the set of frescoes representing Adonis dying in the arms of Venus. The House of the Anchor (Regio VI, Insula 7, n. 18) overlooks via di Mercurio and was built around the second half of the II century BC. The House is named after the anchor depicted in the mosaic at the entrance. This dwelling has an original layout compared to traditional layouts in Pompeii architecture. The house is actually set on two levels in the shape of a L, at different heights, including a reception room and a garden with a covered portico. The House of the Labyrinth is named after the mosaics of its portico. In this house there are thermal baths and a space intended for the production of bread. Take a tour of Pompeii with us and time travel to the past! Start by viewing our guided Pompeii tours here. Or call our Pompeii office at +39 081 1877 7006. Exhibitions 2017. Pompeii and Naples still protagonists
It's time to think about new events in history and archeology of 2017, and we can already give you two important advances on two exhibitions not to miss. The places are Pompeii and Naples and the theme is unique: POMPEII AND THE GREECE.
Overlooking on the Mediterranean Sea and part of the Campania context full of various ethnic and cultural presences, Pompeii lives, as all the settlements of the ancient Italy, an articulated contact with the greek world, documented since before the founding of the city. Events such as the Battle of Cuma (happened on the 474 BC), which completely altered the balance of the Gulf of Naples, for example, have marked the identity, the cults and the models of the ancient Pompeii. The exhibition tells the stories of an unusually Pompeii linked with the Greek culture since the objects - divided into small groups and in seven thematic sections -: ceramics, ornaments and weapons, items from the architectural system, sculptures from Pompeii, Metaponto, Poseidon, Cuma, Capua and Gela, inscriptions in different spoken languages -Greek, Etruscan, Paleoitalico-, funerary objects from different centers of the Mediterranean, Greek sculptures and architectural plates. The works come from Pompeii and the main national and European museums; finds that often for the first time come back in Italy. The exhibition illustrates to the general public the charm of a non-linear historical narrative, built of interrelated patterns, composed of multiple and contradictory identity, by layered languages consciously re-used, born along the Mediterranean area. A narrative that suggests a comparison and a reflection on our contemporary with his dynamism made of migration and conflicts, encounters and clashes of cultures.
Naples, National Archeological Museum The exhibition explores the tension between identity and otherness that characterizes a specific group of mythological tales, myths of transformation or 'metamorphosis'. From the stories of Danae, Leda, Europa and Ganymede to the myth of Io, Daphne, Narcissus and Echo, up to that extraordinarily complex of Hermaphrodite. A path in the greek myth and his fortune through the stories with some common narrative ingredients. If, on the one hand, the exhibition makes extensive use of the material of Ovid (also in view of his next two thousandth anniversary), the theme is treated in a much broader perspective, taking its cue, rather, from the iconographic tradition and the metamorphosis images in Pompeii. In the exhibition, each group of works is joined to a 'summary' of the myth, based on the literary and iconographic sources, ancient and modern, designed to bring to light its changes, modifications, extensions. The rich selection of objects includes, in addition to numerous wall paintings of mythological subjects, mosaic panels, decorated in marble and bronze, gems and jewelery items, bronze utensils and other metals. For each myth is also been offered a small selection of works of more recent periods (from the early modern period to contemporary times), that can illuminate milestones in the reception of Greek transformation myths. So, don’t waste your time and join us on a special guided tour of Pompeii. View and book your tour here. Ancient Pompeii continues to hold surprises almost 2000 years after the eruption that, even if it was the reason of the terrible destiny of the citizens, consecrated the city as one of the most famous and important historical heritages of the Roman time in the world. The new findings on the area of the Pompeian necropolis of Porta Nola (one of the gates of the city) were among the protagonists of the fifth edition of the Days of Archeology of Valencia, during the conference of the second day, which took place on Saturday the 17th of December at the MUVIM (Museum of Illustration and Modernity of Valencia).
The directors of a team composed of international archaeologists and professionals of the project "Investigating the archeology of death in Pompeii: the necropolis and fugitives of Porta Nola", Stephen Kay of the British School in Rome, Llorenç Alapont of the Department of Archaeology of the CDL Valencia (Departamento de Arqueologia del Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Doctores y Licenciados de Valencia Castellon), and Rosa Albiach of the MUVIM, and with the participation of the Museu Valencià de Prehistoria de València for the restoration, explained to the community the interesting findings of the excavation held this summer between July 17 and August 19 in the area next to Porta Nola in the ruins of Pompeii. The excavation team unites professionals in the world of archeology from different countries of the world (in the last campaign they came from Italy, England, Spain, USA, Australia, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Argentina and Mexico), who became famous in 2015 for the discovery of a tomb with the remains of a newborn (a rarity and unusual for the Roman city) during their works in the same area of ancient Pompeii. In 2016 they continued the digging and anthropological operations making new interesting discoveries. During their interventions, Kay, Alapont and Albiach presented the results obtained during the excavation last summer, this time concentrated in the area immediately posterior to the mausoleum of Marco Obellius Firmo, one of the most powerful men of ancient Pompeii whose domus (house) was recently reopened and is visible to the public, to understand its relationship to the entrance of the cemetery and find out if it was part of the burial ground or delimited the "pomerium" (sacred area) of the city. The work of the professionals in the field has brought to light certain of deposits on the door of the wall of the cemetery as a result of the cleaning of the ''ustrinum" (a space dedicated to cremation of the deceased in the Roman period) as well as a dirt path that led from the door of the necropolis to the gate of Porta Nola. One of the most important attractions that shows the architectural grandeur is the funeral building of the age of Tiberius (A.D. 14-37) built for herself and her family by Eumachia, priestess of Venus: on a high terrace stands the portico, with burial chamber and the back fence. Discover the ruins of ancient Pompeii with us on a time-traveling journey - a guided tour of Pompeii that uses VR headsets for an immersive 3D informative look at Pompeii 2,000 years ago. View available tours right here. |
AuthorStaff at Flashback Journey to Pompeii. Our goal is to bring you up-to-date information on events, continuing archeological excavations and more on Pompeii. Archives
July 2018
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