Pompeii exhibit in Washington, D.C.

[AquaGirl]

Hubby and I went to Pompeii exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. It was very interesting and a well-done exhibit. They focused on some of the elaborate villas built in Pompeii by the wealthy Romans as their vacation villas overlooking the Bay of Naples. Many of the artifacts (sculpture, artwork, silver cups, glass, etc.) were from the period 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. The mosaics from that time were incredible - some had over a million little color tiles.
These villas were 10s of thousands of square feet with beautiful gardens and murals on the walls. (I think it was the Peter Bay of that day.)
If you are interested in this type of thing, the exhibit is well worth the time and its free. We did pay the $5 for the narration headsets and enjoyed hearing more details about things.

[flip-flop]

Sounds cool. We'll have to check it out.

I'll add we were disappointed with the renovated American History museum. I was surprised by how disjointed it was and how poorly laid out after more than a year of renovation.

[mahojim]

That sounds like something right up my alley, thanks.
Smiles-
MJ
P.S.-
I'm sure this is a long-shot, but is it something that the Franklin Institute in Philly would ever exhibit, or is it permanently displayed in D.C?
Thanks again-

[AquaGirl]

Jim - since this is a traveling exhibit, it is leaving Washington after March 22. Perhaps it will go to Franklin Institute. Last year (or was it the year before?) we went to Franklin for the Egyptian tomb display, which was excellent. My husband is a scientist, so he ended up spending the whole entire day until they closed down in the rest of the museum . I could only look at lightbulbs and trains for so long, then I sat outside and read a book.

Perhaps you could google the Pompeii exhibit and see if they have a travel schedule for it on-line.

[Anthony]

We were down there (at the real Pompeii) last spring - it was awesome. I was completely fascinated as were the kids - I could have stayed until it was dark there was so much to see. Unfortunately as great as it is the site has some real problems (lack of staff, crumbling ruins, un-licensed guides, etc.) - there has been a lot about it in the news here in Italy and internationally.

Most of the original artifacts (as well as many of the mosaics) are actually in the Archaeological museum in Naples, which is also great - one of the best museums I have visited in Italy. Both are highly recommended if you ever make it to Naples.

[Tracy in WI]

I also visited the real thing back in my college days. It was truly incredible and moving. It's sad to hear that something that has been there so long may not be properly protected today.

[mahojim]

Thanks B&J, I'll poke around!
Smiles-
MJ