Gallery – Images of the Past

ALEXANDER JOHN ELLIS (English, I818-I89O), Pompeii, the West Side of the Street of the Tombs with the remains o[ the Ancient Inn and (so called) Herculanean Gate. From the room built for the Custodi in the house called the Villa of Diomed, April zz, 184r. Daguerreotype, 15.2 x 21 cm (6 x 8.25 in.). National Museum of Film, Photography and Television, Bradford, UK.

Alexander John Ellis (English), Pompeii, the West Side of the Street of the Tombs with the remains of the Ancient Inn and (so called) Herculanean Gate. From the room built for the Custodi in the house called the Villa of Diomed, April 22, 1841. Daguerreotype

Fratelli Amodio (Italian, active between 1860-1870), Pompeii, empreinte humaine a esclave, fouilles 1863 (Pompeii, human imprint, a slave, 1863 excavations), ca. 1873. Albumen silver print, 20.3 x 25.4 cm (8 x 10in.).

Fratelli (Michele) Amodio (Italian), Pompeii, empreinte humaine a esclave, fouilles 1863 (Pompeii, human imprint, a slave, 1863 excavations), 1873. Albumen silver print

Rev. George Wilson Bridges, Pompeii, Amphiteater, 1860s?

Rev. George Wilson Bridges, Pompeii, Amphitheater, 1860s?

Giorgio Sommer (Germany, 1834-1914, active in Italy), The Temple of Fortuna Augusta (The Temple of Fortuna Augusta, Pompeii), 1870ca. Hand-colored albumen silver print, 19.7 x 25.4 cm {~ JZ / AX 10 in.), GRI 2003.R.14 *.

Giorgio Sommer (Germany), The Temple of Fortuna Augusta (The Temple of Fortuna Augusta, Pompeii), 1870, Hand-colored albumen silver print

Giacomo Brogi (Italian), Temple of the Genius of Augustus, called Temple of Mercury. Really it is the Temple of Vespasian. Pompeii, 1870

Fratelli Alinari, House of the Vettii, 1900, Glass Plate, Silver salt gelatin. Courtesy of Fine Art Images/Alinari Archives, Firenze

Fotografo della Soprintendenza Calchi di vittime 1915, fotografia su scheda Archivio fotografico Soprintendenza Speciale per Pompei, Ercolano e Stabia

Unknown, two plaster casts of two bodies of the victims embracing from excavations of the garden of the House of Cryptoporticus or House of T. Lucretius Carus, Pompeii, 1916?

This photo shows the workman, clearing debris, whilst being supervised under the watchful eye of Spinazzola himself (in the dark suit at the top). Part of the aim of the photographic documentation, and one that anyone with field experience is familiar with today, is to preserve a record of how any particular area is being excavated. In addition, Spinazzola was interested in showing the extent of the work being carried out. The photo below is striking, not just for the length of the area being cleared along the Via dell’Abbondanza, but also for showing how much of the ruins had yet to be uncovered just a century ago (you can just see the upper levels of the amphitheatre in the distance).

Unknown, Pompeii: workman clearing debris, supervised by Vittorio Spinazzola (in the dark suit at the top) along Via dell’Abbondanza, 1910?

Pompei, danni del bombardamento americano del 1943

Unknown, Pompei, after the bombing of Pompeii by American Forces, 1943

Oplontis, atrium 5, west wall, at beginning of excavations. Photo courtesy the Soprintendenza Archaeologica di Pompei, De Francisis Archive, dia 9.392

Stanley Jashemski (American), Oplontis, atrium 5, west wall, at beginning of excavations. 1964?

Stanley Jaskemski, 1960. Oplontis Gardens. Plaster casts being created for the root cavities.

Stanley Jaskemski (American), Oplontis Gardens. Plaster casts being created for the root cavities, 1960