Art And History Of Pompeii

Amagnificent collection of stylised reproductions of Pompeii's pictorial treasures by a leading antiquities photographer. The catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 - freeze-framing a ripe moment in time - bestowed upon posterity an incalculable heritage of art and knowledge in the miraculously well-preserved remains of the city of Pompeii. This volume of lush colour images taken by renowned photographer Araldo De Luca, takes readers inside the houses and into the secrets of one of the most charming sites of classical antiquity. Accompanying the photos, which are presented in a distinguished stylized format, are accessible texts that elucidate the daily life, the mythic and heroic imagination, and the religious customs and beliefs of the ancient Romans. AUTHORS: Antonella Magagnini, curator in Rome's Capitoline Museums, is a former professor at the University of Rome. Araldo De Luca is an eminent photographer with an archive of 60,000 images considered among the most highly prized in the world. His work has appeared in White Star's Egyptian Treasures from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and other books. ILLUSTRATIONS: 95 colour photographs

Explores the history and art of Pompeii through the analysis of artifacts and ruins that give clues into the public, religious, commercial, and private lives of its inhabitants; and provides an overview of the excavation of the land and eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2008 'The world's most controversial classicist debunks our movie-style myths about the Roman town with meticulous scholarship and propulsive energy' Laura Silverman, Daily Mail The ruins of Pompeii, buried by an explosion of Vesuvius in 79 CE, offer the best evidence we have of everyday life in the Roman empire. This remarkable book rises to the challenge of making sense of those remains, as well as exploding many myths: the very date of the eruption, probably a few months later than usually thought; or the hygiene of the baths which must have been hotbeds of germs; or the legendary number of brothels, most likely only one; or the massive death count, maybe less than ten per cent of the population. An extraordinary and involving portrait of an ancient town, its life and its continuing re-discovery, by Britain's favourite classicist.

The history of the legendary city, literally unearthed from the dust. After the volcano explosion, a stream of lava devastated the town and buried thousands of locals under the river of melted minerals. Centuries later, their last moment was recovered by filling the gaps in petrified lava. Thus, we see the previous inhabitants of Pompei in the final moments of their lives. This work collected the excavation materials, historical documents, and mentions to compile an objective picture of the ancient city's life and arts.

An assessment of the Bay of Naples as a popular vacation spot in ancient Rome evaluates the picturesque area as a villa site for numerous emperors and a retreat of choice for the artistic community, in a lavishly illustrated volume that features reproductions of period artwork.

The sudden destruction of Pompeii, Herculaneum and the surrounding Campanian countryside following the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 preserved the remarkable evidence that has made possible this reconstruction of the natural history of the local environment. Following the prototype of Pliny the Elder's Natural History, various aspects of the natural history of Pompeii are discussed and analyzed by a team of eminent scientists, many of whom have collaborated with Jashemski during her years of excavation of several gardens in the Vesuvian area. This volume brings together the work of geologists, soil specialists, paleobotanists, botanists, palaeontologists, biologists, chemists, dendrochronologists, ichthyologists, zoologists, ornithologists, mammalogists, herpetologists, entymologists, and archaeologists, affording a thorough picture of the landscape, flora, and fauna of the ancient sites. The detailed and rigorously scientific catalogues, which are copiously illustrated, provide a checklist of the flora and fauna upon which future generations of scholars can continue to build.