(L) Antiquarium, Boscoreale; (R) House of the Tragic Poet, Pompeii
(L) Cast of a dog; (R) CAVE CANEM mosaic, 1st century CE, bichrome black and white tesserae (L) Antiquarium, Boscoreale; (R) House of the Tragic Poet, Pompeii It isn't possible to talk about Pompeii without thinking about the extraordinary casts produced of the victims of Vesuvius' eruption in 79 CE. These casts were the innovation of the archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli, who worked at the site in the 19th century and hit upon the realisation that the ash of the eruption had moulded itself around the victims' bodies, creating hollows as the flesh disappeared to leave the skeleton behind – which meant that the three-dimensional figures of ancient Pompeians could be reconstructed by filling the cavities with plaster. Above we have the figure of a dog discovered at Boscoreale, a little way outside Pompeii. It's an incredibly evocative and saddening image: we can still make out the collar and chain around the dog's neck which would have held it in place as it struggled for freedom, its teeth visible in the plaster cast as it, perhaps, attempted to bite itself free. What's also amazing about this cast – in addition to its emotion and realism – is that it can be matched to artistic depictions from Pompeii itself. The mosaic pictured above right is one of the most well-known artworks from Pompeii. Positioned at the entrance (fauces) to one of the houses in Pompeii, now known as the House of the Tragic Poet, the lifelike portrait of the dog warns the viewer to CAVE CANEM, or "Beware of the Dog". Note the bared teeth – just like the cast of the dog at Boscoreale – and the collar at the dog's neck.
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AuthorEmily Hauser is a classicist and researcher at Harvard and author of historical fiction recovering the lost women of the ancient world, including FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL and FOR THE WINNER. Archives
June 2018
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