Jump to content

Menu

Pompeii Museum Exhibit


Recommended Posts

Has anyone here visited the Pompeii museum exhibit that travels to different museums? If so, were you bothered by the nudity? Was it exorbitant and in your face? Would you recommend it to other homeschoolers? If you haven't seen it, would you?

 

I am organizing a field trip with an option of viewing the temporary Pompeii exhibit. The person I spoke to on the phone made sure to mention the nudity aspect being sure to point out it isn't a main focus of the display. She also mentioned there hasn't been complaints at any of the museums this exhibit has been on display.

 

I copied this from the museum's website as something to note in the description on our field trip site:

The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius tragically buried some people and animals in Pompeii. After their death, a cavity remained in the petrified ash where their bodies had been. Scientists later filled these cavities with plaster, and thus created a plaster cast of the people and animals. A Day in Pompeii includes 11 copies of casts in the exhibition. There are no human remains in the exhibition.

 

Additionally, the celebration of fertility and depictions of the human body were an inherent part of Roman life. A Day in Pompeii includes a handful of frescos (Roman art pieces) and household items that include depictions of unclothed persons, as well as copulation. However, these are displayed tastefully within a cultural context and are not a significant part of the exhibition.

 

All ages and grades are welcome to visit A Day in Pompeii. Teachers are encouraged to decide if the material is appropriate for their students.

 

What do you think, is this something you would want to visit or would you find it distasteful?

 

SJ

Edited by SJ.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We saw it when it was in NY. It was very interesting and really enjoyed it. My son was 8 1/2 at the time. The bodies don't have any real definition. More like cement mannequins. The frescos were no big deal. We looked at everything. I didn't go with the groups because we went with an out of town friend, but a number of the homeschool groups ran field trips to see it.

 

We really enjoyed it. I would never have been willing to set it up as field trip because it was in Times Square and I would never want to deal with that sort of field trip headache! But if it was somewhere else, sure I think was a great trip. Our friends all enjoyed it as well. I don't remember anyone saying they had an issue with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I was fortunate to go to the real site, and I can say there were some pretty graphic depictions of s#x and definitely full frontal stuff, iykwim.

 

The most upsetting part was the casts, tho--creepy and tragic. I don't know if the traveling display will have the dog or the mom bending over her child, but those really touched me.

 

I'd still go with kids if you prepare them well. I found Pompeii fascinating. Do they also include some things from Herculeum (spelling?)?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I was fortunate to go to the real site, and I can say there were some pretty graphic depictions of s#x and definitely full frontal stuff, iykwim.

 

The most upsetting part was the casts, tho--creepy and tragic. I don't know if the traveling display will have the dog or the mom bending over her child, but those really touched me.

 

I'd still go with kids if you prepare them well. I found Pompeii fascinating. Do they also include some things from Herculeum (spelling?)?

 

There was a dog, but I don't remember anything specfic about people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took my children to it when it was in Melbourne. They had the dog, about 6 bodies plus some young girls, which I found particularly moving.

I don't remember anything graphic, though they did have a special night time viewing for over 18 (I didn't go to that one) I am guessing they had the juicy bits in another room and you probably had to pay extra for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I was fortunate to go to the real site, and I can say there were some pretty graphic depictions of s#x and definitely full frontal stuff, iykwim.

 

The most upsetting part was the casts, tho--creepy and tragic. I don't know if the traveling display will have the dog or the mom bending over her child, but those really touched me.

 

I'd still go with kids if you prepare them well. I found Pompeii fascinating. Do they also include some things from Herculeum (spelling?)?

 

:iagree: We were in Pompeii last month (and in 2010) and there were graphically sexual things in a lot of places, but it kind of went over Indy's head (not all of it). He was really too fascinated by the ruins and artifacts to care.

The casts are quite eerie and sad. The one of the person crouching really gets to me for some reason. FYI, the dog and the mother and child were not on display last month when we were there, so I'm assuming their with the traveling show. Indy was very disappointed the dog was not there. He's seen it before, but he was hoping to see it again.

I really wanted to visit Herculaneum this time, but Indy insisted he NEEDED to see more of Pompeii (it's huge). If we go back to Naples though, I'm insisting we go to Herculaneum!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took my girls to see it a couple of weeks ago - they actually first went with dh on his day off then wanted me to go so we all went the next day. The only thing that bothered us was the last room where the bodies were. I would suggest that sensitive people put down their heads and walk from the little movie to the far wall. My girls both walked around and looked at things. The couple lying down bright tears to my eyes. The chained dog bothered my dd more than the people. My younger examined everything and asked lots of questions. I don't specifically remember any nudity. My older dd read every description in every room and tried to translate all of the Latin. Most of the frescos are a bit faded instead of brightly colored so there my have been nudity in them. The exhibit was full of families.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it's similar to what you actually see in Pompeii, then the nudity is pretty advanced: erect phalluses for fertility symbolism as well as in use.

 

I don't know about the exhibition though.

 

I've been to both Pompeii and the exhibition here. There's nothing like the graphic stuff (for fertility or used in the brothels) in the exhibit. More like what you'd see in any art museum. If you have a problem with the nudity ion this exhibit (didn't stick out to me at all), you'd have to ban yourself from any art museum anywhere in the world.

 

My local museum also had an Aphrodite exhibit recently (not talking about Pompeii exhibit here). I didn't end up bringing my kids to that. There was a whole room of graphic stuff, but at least they kept it separate, not mixed in with the other "just nude" stuff, and there was an advisory so you didn't just go in and get surprised.

 

The Pompeii exhibit is meant to be family friendly. They do have the dog. We've seen the casts in documentaries and books for years and years (my kids love Pompeii), so it didn't bother them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a complete non-issue for us. It was a wonderful exhibit for all ages. If your group has been to any art museum, then they they certainly have seen more flesh than this exhibit portrayed.

 

For full disclosure, we do have a painting of a topless mermaid in our home, so we have no body issues here. As my daughter says, "Fear no art"!

 

Enjoy the Pompeii exhibit, it is truly wonderfully moving and well thought out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:iagree: We were in Pompeii last month (and in 2010) and there were graphically sexual things in a lot of places, but it kind of went over Indy's head (not all of it). He was really too fascinated by the ruins and artifacts to care.

The casts are quite eerie and sad. The one of the person crouching really gets to me for some reason. FYI, the dog and the mother and child were not on display last month when we were there, so I'm assuming their with the traveling show. Indy was very disappointed the dog was not there. He's seen it before, but he was hoping to see it again.

I really wanted to visit Herculaneum this time, but Indy insisted he NEEDED to see more of Pompeii (it's huge). If we go back to Naples though, I'm insisting we go to Herculaneum!

 

You should! We liked Herculaneum area better than Pompeii. Less crowded, more rustic. Picked up a guide at the entrance who was terrific. Very personal, interesting tour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the exhibit we saw, there was a large casting of people on the beach from Herculaneum. That was very moving.

 

The only overtly sexual mosaic/painting is of 3 people (two men and a woman) having sex. It's not that large, and is set higher, so younger children might not notice, or realize what it is. You don't see any nudity in the castings...you do see that people held their clothing to their mouths, clutched each other etc Heartbreaking.

 

My children were fascinated by the exhibit, and we stayed a very long time.

 

Get the headsets.

Edited by LibraryLover
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...