Dr Sophie Hay

Repair of a mosaic

Not that I know of but one I know was certainly in the process of being repaired… badly.

Mid 1st century AD at a slight guess.

It’s not open yet - it’s just in the process of undergoing conservation.

It’s glorious in its seeming simplicity.

Leopard on red background: fresco from Pompeii

Gorgeous.

Ha! No, just glimpses of beautiful colour without any corpses.

Not as picturesque today as it would have been!

It’s such a brilliant series!

Detail of the mosaic: the boar’s head looking down with its mouth open just enough to see the red tongue.

The mosaic boar against a white background propped up on its front legs.

View through the house from the entrance hallway across the atrium and onto the terrace which had a majestic view of the Lattari mountain range.

What a privilege to see the wild boar mosaic up close. The blood spot in the eye, the redness in the mouth and the blueish tesserae making up the diffused shadows.
Quite the welcome in the entrance hall of the recently conserved House of the Boar, #Pompeii

*Cloud doff*

View up the via Nocera through the Nocera gate of Pompeii with Vesuvius in the background with a flat white cloud crowning its peak.

Even Vesuvius wears a little hat in this hot weather. #Pompeii

🤗

View down the via di Mercurio towards the arch of Caligula and the forum beyond. The sky above the Lattari hills glows a soft hazy yellowy orangey

View down an empty street with warm evening sunshine illuminating the walls. Mountains form the backdrop with a soft blue sky

Late evening of work in Pompeii yesterday but the reward of an empty site bathed in glorious warm light was a privilege.

Excellent! A really interesting read about Pompeii but through the eyes of the author so there’s a deeper more profound response to the archaeology. Well worth reading.

Hard agree! Totally logical!

I’m so sorry!! 🫣

Publicity photo for the programme: in the foreground someone brushes clean a find with pompeii and Vesuvius behind them

The BBC series ‘Pompeii: The New Dig’ just won a Gold Tower at the New York Festivals TV & Films Awards!🏆
Well deserved honour for all who brought the wonder of an excavation to life through those who worked on site & the incredible stories they unravelled
tvfilm.newyorkfestivals.com/Winners/Winn...

UPDATE:
PBS will air the new 4th episode of ‘Pompeii: The New Dig’ on Wednesday 6th August.

America, please forgive us Europeans who write dates day-month-year and not month-day-year…. You see the confusion? Oooops!

An ancient bar frontage decorated in red plaster. The bar counter on the left is slightly cast in rectangular shadow and the depths of the bar remain shrouded in darkness. The facade on the right of the image has an upper portion in white with red lettering and the shadow falling across it all aligns with the height of the bar counter. A geometric play of light, dark and shadows.

Just a pleasing bit of geometry. #Pompeii #BarOfAsellina

No time to drink here let alone heavily!

Excellent! Enjoy!!

🤭👏👏

I should add that there are a few ramps and steps to negotiate with no handrails but nothing overly taxing. Hope you get to visit!

I should add that for now the tours are only in Italian!

The tour is about 45 mins and doesn’t require that much walking to be honest as you are only seeing a few selected highlights of recent work in that insula block. It’ll all be standing and walking in that time.

The woman appears to be urinating - faint lines, same colour as the rope, emanating from her…

How lovely, thank you so much - and what wonderful company to be in.

Al via le visite guidate al cantiere dell'Insula Meridionalis a Pompei - Pompeii Sites Partono le visite guidate al cantiere dell’Insula Meridionalis, visibile dalla strada principale della città moderna lungo il viale delle ginestre e tra i piu’ articolati fronti di scavo del sito … Co...

The good news is that if you wish to see for yourself this fresco and explore more of the Insula Meridionalis in #Pompeii you can! Each weekday at 11am there is a free guided tour (with an entrance ticket) of the ongoing worksite. Info for booking here:
pompeiisites.org/comunicati/a...

The painted shower pool with a vaulted roof. The arched vault is decorated in white with a representation of the Sarno River. The central painted register are red panels and the lower register is a Nilotic scene. It is thought that a pipe showered water rather than it being stagnant water in a pool.

Detail of the Nilotic scene with pygmies on the banks of the Nile one of whom appears to be squatting and pulling another from the jaws of a crocodile.

The squatting Pygmy in detail

The squatting Pygmy is simultaneously peeing…

Taking the mic(k)turition.
Spotted in the decoration of the shower pool of the frigidarium in the Sarno Baths, #Pompeii: a pygmy on the banks of the Nile urinating.
#FrescoFriday

Ahhh the fresco that gently wraps you in a blanket of calm. I adore it.