Museum of the Rockies (MOR) announces a new exhibition opening June 18, 2016, titled
Leisure and Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis Near Pompeii. The artifacts in the exhibition have never before left Italy, and MOR will be one of only three museums in the country to host the exhibit. Museum of the Rockies is the only venue west of the Mississippi River.
In 79 AD, falling ash and pyroclastic flow from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the villas of some of Rome’s wealthiest citizens, as well as merchants and slaves on the Bay of Naples. The exhibit reveals the culture and lifestyles of this ancient civilization through the artifacts of leisure and luxury unearthed from the Oplontis archaeological dig site near Pompeii.
Dr. Regina Gee, Associate Professor of Art History at Montana State University and Adjunct Curator of Art History at MOR, is one of three researchers working at the Oplontis site. Recently, she and her colleagues received permission from the Italian authorities to organize an exhibit of artifacts to travel to the United States.
Leisure and Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis Near Pompeii presents artifacts from two prominent villas at Oplontis. Frescos, statues and a host of other luxurious antiquities come from “Villa A,” believed to be the seaside home of Emperor Nero’s second wife, Poppaea Sabina. Uncovered at “Villa B,” a commercial wine distribution center, were jewelry, a strong-box, coins, and many other artifacts belonging to a merchants and slaves who hid in a storage room awaiting a rescue that never came.
“While the index of luxury we have from Villa A exemplifies the delights of leisure, the material finds from Villa B beautifully illustrate the necessity of commerce; they are two sides of the the same coin showing how ancient Romans exploited the richness of the Bay of Naples,” said Dr. Gee.
Unique to the MOR’s presentation of the exhibit will be a graphic display that was created by MSU’s Geology Department and depicts in 3-dimensional motion and map-layering the destruction of the Bay of Naples area during the 48-hours surrounding the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Museum of the Rockies in conjunction with MSU has developed expansive interdisciplinary curricula to engage University students as well as K-12 students throughout the state. Museum of the Rockies will become an “extended classroom” to enable Montana’s educators at all levels to teach their students about this significant era in history. As always, every K-12 public, private, tribal and homeschooled student in Montana will be able to visit Oplontis free of charge.
Leisure and Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis Near Pompeii will be at Museum of the Rockies through December 31, 2016.
This exhibition is organized and circulated by The University of Michigan Kelsey Museum of Archeology in cooperation with the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attivitá Culturali e del Turismo and the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Pompei, Ercolano e Stabia.
