Pompeii: Stories from an Eruption October 22, 2005—March 26, 2006 “A fearful black cloud was rent by forked and quivering bursts of flame, and parted to reveal great tongues of fire…. Darkness fell, not the dark of a moonless or cloudy night, but as if the lamp had been put out in a dark room.” Nature’s most violent cataclysm was vividly described by Pliny the Younger, who survived the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. But untold numbers were buried in its volcanic debris, and a vibrant, cosmopolitan society vanished overnight. Now the exhibition Pompeii: Stories from an Eruption brings that society to life. Casts made from human remains show real people caught as they fled with their most prized possessions. Past and more recent excavations in the area around Pompeii provide hundreds of objects to illuminate the inhabitants’ lives: gorgeous room-size frescoes and mosaics, gold coins and precious jewelry, marble and bronze sculptures, and a variety of everyday household objects. Visitors will visit three sites devastated by the eruption, seeing for themselves how the inhabitants live and died. They’ll learn how volcanoes are born—and learn how they wield their destructive power. The exhibition was organized by the Ministero per i Beni e le Attivitá Culturali, Soprintendenza archeologica di Pompei, Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici delle province di Napoli e Caserta, Regione Campania.