On May 8th, I flew up to Seattle to experience the Pompeii Exhibit with my family. The last time it would ever be in North America, I was really looking forward to going. Held about 20 min from my house, it was at the Pacific Science Center downtown. As you walked into the exhibit, the first thing we were showed is a video of the earthquake and what the day it was like. Back when it happened and Mount Vesuvius blew in AD 79, the exhibit would show what life was like in Pompeii before the eruption and after it erupted.
Why I really wanted to use it for our DESMA 9 Class is because I wanted to see if Italians back in the first century used concepts that we have learned about in this class.
To begin with, the sculptures that they had were plentiful. The first room you walked into had the “Imperial Portrait” which was dated to be around 27 BC- 68 AD. What I found interesting was it combined mathematics with art because, the Greek Polycitos believed the total height of a figure should be seven times the height of the head. As you can see in the photo below, the theory is applied here and I found that really interesting.
My favorite part of the exhibit was the gladiator part. Looking at the shinguards, helmets and everything else had me completely in awe because of the technology they had to make it. The intricate details were mind blowing and often times, they were so elaborate that they depicted stories like the Trojan War.
The last thing I saw in the exhibit (but forgot to take a picture of) was the medical equipment they used. By far the most intriguing to me, they had a lot of tools for incisions but at the same time, the tools were secondary to the practice of medicine. It said that there were many elite medical practices that only the wealthy could afford and that’s why many of the social status and elite stayed at the top because the money stayed at the top.
Overall, it was fascinating to see things from BC and in the first century and I learned that even back then, the concepts we’ve learned
Chad,
ReplyDeleteI really like this exhibit! It is so cool and historic.
I am intirgued by the medical equipment section. That stuff intersts me because my dad is a doctor and ive been around medical equipment my whole life!
Thanks
Delaney