Painted Gardens From Pompeii

These painted gardens are from walls inside a house that was buried under the violent volcanic eruption of Mt Vesuvius in Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79. The British Museum has a put together a fascinating exhibition of these two cities.

The exhibition has a unique focus, looking at the Roman home, the businesses and community of people who lived in these ill-fated cities. It is arranged to focus your imagination on the life of the towns through plans of the cities to a floor plan of a house, all supported with photographs of the present, the ruined past and the excavated utensils, artefacts and furniture.  From the floor plan it leads you through room by room, showing you the items found there, particular to each room: the shop front, to the atrium, bedrooms, ante-rooms and kitchen showing us how similar the lives 2000 years ago are to ours.

Also on exhibit are the casts of the people and animals who were caught at the moment of horrific death from burning volcanic ash, a chilling and absorbing exhibit. The exhibition continues till 29th September. I think I will visit again.