by donald dusinberre imartsyfartsy@gmail.com
From now until the beginning of February, the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens is hosting a magnificent opportunity to experience the fruits of both ancient art and modern archaeology. Touring the country as a part of a nine-stop exhibition, Art from the Ashes is organized by the Superintendence of Archaeology of Pompeii, in collaboration with the Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation. They’ve made their way to Jacksonville’s own first-class museum, and visitors are fortunate to be able to see many of the examples up close and very personal.
Sure, we’ve known about Pompeii (and to a lesser degree, Herculaneum) since we were kids. Technically, the art from that region has been known for quite a few years now, and it’s difficult to call something “new” when we’ve know about it our entire lives. But relatively speaking, we’ve known about these cities for just a few minutes in terms of history. After all, they were buried instantly by Mount Vesuvius almost two thousand years ago in A.D. 79. Jesus had already been here and gone again. Ancient Rome has since fallen, continents have been discovered, and the Beatles recorded the White Album. Coca-Cola is new too, by the way.
Virtually everything found in Stabiae has been frozen in time until recently, and that’s the main reason you should visit this exhibition. Think about it: Most artistic styles have been relentlessly copied, ripped off and exploited, but the artwork in Vesuvially buried towns has been preserved; hidden from style-thieves and idea-robbers. Consequently, our eyes are treated to something fresh. Although everything that has ever been on the earth has some common thread, it’s fascinating to experience something with a thread so thin.
The artifacts at the Cummer Museum include pure art works made strictly for decoration, like statues, urns, and low relief wall sculptures. There are also items not originally considered art, like pots and pans, oil lamps, and other containers. They are all fascinating in their own right, but by far the most impressive artworks on display are the fresco wall paintings. Created in the walls, not just on them, the frescoes – the walls themselves – have been meticulously transferred to concrete slabs for preservation.
As with the famous discovery of Pompeii, there is an inherent fascination with things forgotten. Our minds ask some questions that can only be pondered, perhaps never definitively answered. How could an entire region of the world be completely forgotten – more than once? Didn’t anyone in Stabiae have relatives in nearby Naples or Salerno who wondered why they stopped getting birthday cards? The questions naturally float between archaeology, art, history and sociology. Did any of the wealthy residents of Stabiae inadvertently spend their last moment looking at the same wall we leisurely admire at the Cummer? Was someone reading by the light of an oil lamp now on display for us?
Be sure to check out Art from the Ashes sometime before February 3, 2008. To learn more about the exhibition, visit stabiae.com. For even more information, visit the Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach on Thursday, December 20th, from 6 pm – 9 pm for a lecture on the exhibition.
Maybe in two thousand years, the pots and pans in my kitchen will be transformed from utensils to art. If only we had a volcano to bury them.
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