The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-01-11
TUE PRESS.
Unearthing Pompeii.
New and Rich Discoveries Made Every
Day.
TCorrespondencc Of the Pail Mall Gazette

Correspondence of the Pail Mall Gazette.l
/ was anxious to see what was doing at the
new excavations, but 1 knew that the best
things would be at once transferred to the mu-
scum at Naples, so / went there first. 1 found
one room entirely devoted to the newest fres-
GOES. There are about five pictures, averag-
ing four feet square, each full of quite roman
tic interest; some of these have only been there
few weeks, and none of them are yet labeled.
The colors are fresh, the drawing is equal to
most things at the Royal Academy, and the eff
feet of these buried relics of the first century
"a. D. 79) so suddenly lifted into the daylight
of 1881 is, confess, little ghostly.
should not have been surprised on turning
round to find a Pomreiian of the arrested life
of the period looking over my shoulder at
some of his old haunts One of the larger pic
lures gives sort of bird 's-eye view of the the
atre at Pompeii, with wild beast fight going
on. You look down upon the arena from some
height. You also command a view of the
street with the passers-by and few booths,
from one of which thief has stolen something
and is making off, and the "velarium," or
vast awning, is half drawn over the top OF the
theatre. 1t is, as far as / know, the only con-
temporary representation of the thing ever
discovered. We know that sailors were en-
ployed to stretch a similar VEIL supported by
poles, over the top of the Coliseum, but exact
ly how the thing was managed l believe has
puzzled 1tiquaries.
They may get hint from closer inspection
of this amazingly vivid bit of contemporary
history. Two long flights of steps outside en-
able the spectators TO reach the top seats with
out going inside the theatre. This is surely an
Admirable idea, worthy of our imitation The
next day at Pompeii puzzled over the ruins
of both theatres. / could not make out where
these external stairs could have been placed.
In the painting they rise from public square,
but the temple of Isis is built close against the
big theatre, and the small theatre is complete
ly hemmed in by houses. Is 1T, perchance, the
theatre of Herculaneum?
A large painting of a sleeping bacchante,
nude, watched by satyr, might have been de-
signed by Etty in drawing. color and perspec-
tive; it is a mastery study, showing besides q
great deal of feeling for landscape painting,
which, for some reason or other, the ancients
are not supposed to have cared for; but the
more we conceited creatures know of them the
more evident it is that they knew quite as
much about color and drawing as they did
about sculpture. Look at uranus and This
be ON the other wall, or Mars and Venus, and
q capital study OF Europa mounting thebull,
surroundedsby her maidens. All these are
highly preserved and show a perfect ease, Wig
or and freshness of handling that many mod
ern artist might envy. The new find in bronze
is an exquisite seated statuette figure of
"Abundantia,' about foot high, holding a
pdterd, or cup; her chair is adorned with horns
of plenty, and the pressure of her body and the
set of her drapery over the cushion on which
she sits is so realistic that one expects to see
her move upon her chair or rise at any mo-
ment. Beside her is slave boy, in backward
attitude, about foot and half high, pouring
wine into cup. This is also new.
visited Pompeii next day and went straight
to the diggings. The only wonder is that any
thing is ever dug up at all; the process is ride
ulously slow, even for Italy. The directors sit
all day on the rubbish heaps smoking, and
dozens of children file up and down with their
little baskets of earth, while few idle peas
ants shovel up few lazy spadefuls at time
Still, the first thing saw was the side OF din
ing room, uncovered only few days ago. On
one side was bright picture OF fine cock and
hens in great state of excitement over large
basket of grain and red cherries all upset.
Landseer could not have done it better. The
fondness of the Pompeiians for birds, beasts
and fishes is very apparent, and they always
seemed to be dining. The wealth of cooking
apparatus in the museum is astonishing. You
have saucepans perforated with countless holes,
in most elaborate patterns, every conceivable
kind IF boiler and caldron, casts for jellies,
representing the PROSTATE hare and the suck
roasting six eggs or dozen eggs at once, toast
ing forks, gridirons, and fancy machines for
pasty and delicate confectionery, what in
Elizsbeth's day were called "conceits."
In Pompeii itself the oil pots and wine am
phorR let into slabs, and of mosaic work Of
colored marble, are among the quaintest fea-
lures of the ruined shops. 1 saw in another
new part nne dining room, found three
months ago, with some of the liveiest paint
ings imaginable The first section of the walls
all Lar sid cd fbn hold last
der the sea-a conger struggling with an octo-
pus, a shark pursuing its prey. shoal of fish
flying through the water, all glittering and
fresh. The middle section dealt with birds
and wild fowl floating, flying, quarrelling,
diving; and the upper and largest section gave
fierce hunting scenes-horse pursued by a lion,
an OK in desert scenery sprung upon by tiger,
and all these re set in scenery of great force,
variety, and Gu iracter-woods, rocks, rivers
and green hills. The corridors and ante rooms
of this house are equally rich, the walls copi-
ously vignetted with fgures-dwarf on stills,
street scenes, animals. In one room there is
perfectly white suite of marble steps IN sta,
belonging to fountain. The whole stands as
though finished yesterday, without soil or
chip or scratch.
They seem now to be coming to some of the
richest houses, and have broken into the outer
court of one in which stands beautiful foun-
tain cupola and niche of elaborate mosaic work,
representing gods and goddesses in the deep
blue heavens half yelled with feecy clouds.
The house IS still imbedded under 30 feet of
earth; but if this is the backyard, what must
the halls and corridors be. The plan now
adopted is to leave as much as possible an sitl.
Specimens repeated themselves, and it is need
lees 10 go on removing similar mosaics or fres-
Goes, of which there are plenty in the Naples
museum. AS rule, therefore, all the latter
excavations are more interesting than the old
ones, because they have been left unspoisd of
their treasure. / should like to spend week
at Pompeii every year, if only to watch the
uncovering and revel in the new finds.