Since their discovery in the 1700s, the ruins of Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum have been continuously excavated and exhibited. Yet another show of the antiquities sounds tired and “Pompeii and the Roman Villa” barely refreshes the subject through its focus on ancient luxury and leisure.
This sumptuous exhibit at the National Gallery of Art concentrates on the possessions of the powerbrokers who vacationed on the Bay of Naples before A.D. 79 when Mount Vesuvius erupted to bury the region. So immediate was this hellish disaster that entire buildings and their contents were preserved intact below layers of pumice and volcanic ash.
The entrance to the exhibit, which was organized with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, provides a reminder of how Pompeii might have met its apocalyptic end. It features a 14-foot-high photomural of Joseph Wright’s dramatic, mid-1770s painting, “Vesuvius from Portici.”
Wright’s canvas appears in the concluding, least interesting part of the show, a grouping of 18th- and 19th-century works devoted to the enduring influence of Pompeian archaeology. This section, which merits an exhibition of its own, seems tacked on to jazz up the antiquities with fiery scenes of the erupting volcano. The tragic human dimension of the cataclysm is barely touched upon.
The bulk of the exhibit boils down to an impressive home and garden show, providing the opportunity to imagine how wealthy Romans decorated their seaside estates. Among about 150 artifacts on display are table bases, wine cups, lamps, murals, outdoor sculptures, fountains and decorative figurines created between the first century B.C. and first century A.D.
Sculpted portraits of famous emperors, from Julius Caesar to Nero, and unknown citizens line the first gallery to remind us of the patrons of such designs. Most notable is a streamlined head of Livia, the wife of the first emperor of Rome, Augustus. Made of a black stone called basanite, it looks as though it was sculpted in the 20th century.
On a nearby wall, several small frescoes depict the type of mansions owned by these rulers. The terraced retreats were designed with porches and docks, much like waterfront homes today. Two huge photomurals, reproduced from 1903 Beaux-Arts watercolors, depict cross sections through an excavated Pompeian house to reveal how the rooms inside the villas might have looked.
Their richly colorful decor is recalled in the striking installation created by exhibit designer Mark Leithauser and his team to recall the procession through a Roman house. Stenciled walls, scarlet-banded columns between galleries and reproductions of floor mosaics (with some missing sections digitally reconstructed) re-create the bold flavor of Pompeian interiors.
The ancient Romans would have approved of such illusionary effects. Within their Pompeian homes, they relied on trompe l’oeil murals and garden courtyards to create the appearance of more space and blur the distinction between indoors and outdoors.
One of the showstoppers is such a wall painting, found by accident in 1959 during the construction of highway south of Pompeii. Its vivid red background is adorned with images of Apollo and the muses within an architectural setting of frames and doorways.
The fresco was once part of a dining room, which is re-created in the exhibit to provide visitors with an idea of its original size and bench seating.
Nearby, an outdoor scene of plants, birds and statuary was meant to extend a garden inside a room. Painted with naturalistic detail, the fresco looks like it was completed recently but comes from the House of the Golden Bracelet, an ancient Pompeian residence excavated between 1978 and 1983.
The gallery installation establishes a playful relationship between the painting and real versions of the objects represented within its borders. Surrounding the artwork are stone theatrical masks and posts topped by heads similar to those in the mural.
A scalloped birdbath nearly identical to one in the picture is set within a garden of live plants, including boxwood, laurel and a strawberry tree, all corresponding to those in the ancient fresco.
One of the more interesting aspects of the show is its realistic sculpture, reflecting the Romans’ obsession with Greek art. After the Romans conquered Greece in 146 B.C., they went crazy for pieces created during the golden age of Athens and commissioned copies of these masterpieces.
Some of the works in the exhibit were created by Greek artists for the Italian market and some by Italians who took liberties with Greek traditions. For example, a sacred bronze of a nude youth was reinterpreted for Roman use with an outstretched right arm to hold a tray for lamps.
By the time Vesuvius erupted, Roman and Greek artworks were practically indistinguishable. Archaeologists uncovering statuary from Pompeii often mistook Roman copies as authentically Greek. It’s easy to see why from the wrinkled portrait of Homer, the statuesque figure of Aphrodite and other robust pieces in the exhibit.
After being annihilated by fire and brimstone, Pompeii was forgotten until chance discoveries led to systematic excavations sponsored by Charles VII, the Spanish Bourbon ruler of Naples. News of the discoveries made in 1734-59 turned the pagan city into a required stop on the grand tour of Europe and triggered a classical revival in art and architecture.
The last galleries display some of these romantic views of emerging ruins and illustrated publications of antique designs. One of the highlights is a large painting by Victorian artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema called “A Sculpture Gallery.” Six of the ancient objects shown in this Roman-style portrayal of the artist and his family are displayed in the same gallery.
A more unassuming work in this part of the show turns out to document a fascinating piece of Washington history. In 1856, Italian-born artist Constantino Brumidi received a commission to create murals for the Naval Affairs Committee Room in the U.S. Capitol. He based the paintings on Pompeian frescoes, setting floating nymphs against red and blue backgrounds.
Now used as the Senate Appropriations Conference Room, the space is still lined with Brumidi’s paintings. The Roman-inspired panels now provide one of the few bright spots during discussions of the current economic meltdown.
WHEN YOU GO
WHAT: “Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture Around the Bay of Naples”
WHERE: National Gallery of Art, East Building, Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue Northwest
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through March 22
ADMISSION: Free
PHONE: 202/737-4215
WEB SITE: www.nga.gov
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