The Sea Gave Her Back
According to the article, she is a truly beautiful piece of work, and her sandals are especially lovely, very detailed.
On of the things on my list of places to visit in retirement, is Pompey. Israel is another.
One of the things that I really love about living in Houston is the Fine Arts Museum. The institution has works that range from religious art painted on wood that date back to medieval times, to Picasso and Kandinsky. One of my favorite halls contains marble statues from ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. We even have a few sarcophogy, one of which has an interior painted in vivid color and hyroglyphs...it looks like it was painted yesterday.
Last year, the museum featured the exibition "Pompey", which I attended with my friend Donna and my impatient 10 year-old. It was such a moving and facinating exibition, one where we got to see not only some of the plaster casts taken from the "impressions" left by Vesuvious' victims, but everyday items like urns and perfume jars. The two things that left me gobsmacked were; the doctor's kits, complete with scalpels, forceps, tweezers and needles for stitching. The gobsmack factor was that they looked like modern instruments, only they were made of gold or silver. The second was the fine detail of the impressions of the dead.
There was one of a family, all huddled together, mom holding her infant child to her in protection. You could see the sutures on the baby's skull and their mouths opened as if they died screaming. It moved me to tears, this pitieous sight of death in terror. The man trying to protect his family, futilely, wondering what the gods were so offended by, wondering why the world was ending.
It was an incredible exibition, second only to the Tutankamen exibit I was lucky enough to see when it toured the U.S. back in the 70's. I will never forget that either. I was amazed at the workmanship and detail that went into the art and everyday implements that this culture provided it's royalty. I've loved ancient culture ever since I met King Tut.
Now we have another addition, long lost, to the treasures from ancient history. I'm glad of it and can't wait to see it for myself.
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