That's It From Herculaneum...

[endlessrarities]

It's the weekend, and I thought that since last Sunday's cycling extravaganza has been followed by five days of almost total inertia, I'd be raring to go on the bike today.  I don't know, perhaps it's the shock of being demoted to the mountain bike once more (the road bike needs new tyres fitted, and was lucky to get home safely, as it had developed an alarming bulge in the inner tube over the course of last week's return journey) but my twenty mile dander up the cycle track and back just about wiped me out...

I shall post some more pictures of the garden tomorrow, as I'm at last getting the nasturtiums planted out and transplanting the penstemmon, so it's beginning to get a bit brighter.  

In the meantime, I thought I'd take one last trip to Herculaneum. 

This is the gymnasium, only partially excavated:-
 

And spare a thought, if you will, for all those archaeologists who have been excavating this place through the centuries.  If you want some idea of what's involved, take a look at this:-

 

The charred timber in the centre of the picture is, I presume, a collapsed joist or beam, with archaeologically sensitive layers beneath.  Lying above is some in situ volcanic ash, the remains of the pyroclastic flow which engulfed the town all those centuries ago.  Now, imagine getting through all that (with or without modern power tools...) and managing to reach those roof timbers without causing any disturbance or destruction.  Not very easy, I'd say...

But the results have been spectaular.  Here's a gorgeous relief sculpture from the town, which unfortunately I know absolutely next to nothing about. It's one of four marble sculptures which feature gods and goddesses, and this one is my particular favourite: Athena/Minerva,:-

Yeah, I might not like the Romans very much, but this piece of Roman art is quite enough to make me go 'wow!  That's really something!!'

And yes, I'd be quite happy to hang it on my wall at home, thank you!!
 

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

WOW. That before-and-after is **remarkable**

(And what a stern, strong face Minerva has. Excellent.)

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I was really chuffed to find a little bit of the site which showed it 'as it was' before the excavation took place. It was tucked away in one of the more boring house structures, with no signage or anything, and it was probably one of the key parts of the site, as it really brought it home how much work was involved in clearing the place.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

What a contrast between Minerva's clothes and her face! She is one scary lady.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

If I could just get hold of a nice little statue of her, she'd be my household deity! I'm fond of Artemis, too, but Athena just has the edge...

All I've got just now is a small bust of Richard Wagner. He doesn't really count as a household deity of any description:-(

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

That is a beautiful sculpture. I love the curves in her dress and the helmet plume.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

The photo came out really well, too!! Despite very harsh direct Sunny Afternoon In The Bay Of Naples light...

[dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com]

My first thought about picture 2 was that the grey/black thing was a charred, petrified human finger.

I really admire the patience and technique of archeologists. They have just about the most nitpicky job in the world!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

You see, if I was a GOOD archaeologist, I'd carry a little portable scale everywhere so that you could get a real idea of what you were seeing.

It's an absolute pain in the neck, as far as faffing around's concerned. Take your average feature. The technique is as follows:- 1) Clean area around feature with trowel; 2) photograph feature; 3) excavate half of feature. Take care to collect the soil for sampling, and remember to differentiate any different contexts; 4) photograph excavated half-feature; 5) excavate 2nd half of feature (remembering to augment your existing samples, if necessary...); 5) clean and photograph fully excavated feature; 6) write up all contexts, including the cut of your posthole. In my world, this usually ends up with a text that rivals War and Peace...

Oh, and don't forget to label all your finds (if any) and double bag and label your samples.

Is it any wonder that my heart sinks whenever I actually find anything????

[readthisandweep.livejournal.com]

Wonderful Minerva/Athena!

[jennyblackford.livejournal.com]

She's very much a classic, classical-era Athena, in dress, attributes etc, rather than a true Minerva (who, like many Roman deities, was much less defined in appearance etc than the Greek deity she got syncretized with). Actually, I'd suspect that this is a Roman copy of a Greek original (which might have had an equally grim but more graceful face.)

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

That sounds spot on to me. I'm not a proper Classicist, but she seems very Greek to me, especially in the style of her clothing. The helmet's quite Greek, too, though not as snazzy as the lovely Corinthian style ones. She hasn't got the lovely dispassionate face that's synonymous with the Classical period (I think that's the right one, isn't it? With the Hellenistic stuff being more emotional and melodramatic).

[jennyblackford.livejournal.com]

I can't help feeling that the artist might have been trying for the lovely Classical dispassionate face, with a bit of added Hellenistic determination, and accidentally made it a bit thuggish. Or maybe he fancied tough women ;)

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Maybe the misguided fellow thought he'd improved on the original by making her a bit of a bruiser!

'A bit thuggish'... I like it!!

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

Wonderful. The pose reminds me of Egyptian reliefs, but I imagine they all borrowed from each other?

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I couldn't tell you. I know next to nothing about the Egyptians. I don't know if it's an art history thing- something to do with the way perspective is interpreted. A lot of the ancient cultures seem to do it this way - Minoans, Assyrians, etc. But I may be talking utter mince...