Pompeii 4

Pompeii 4

When archaeologists were excavating the buried city of Pompeii, they noticed an occasional void in the ash that contained human remains. They realized that these were spaces left by decomposing bodies so they devised a method of injecting plaster into the spaces which would preserve the forms of the human bodies. Our tour allowed us to view a few of the plaster casts that were on display. There was such a crowd that it was difficult to get a decent image because I was literally being pushed out of the way by other tourists.

There were two of the forms enclosed in glass cases and again, it was difficult to get close enough to make a decent image. I decided quickly that a wide view without crowds of people was impossible so I decided to make close views. The wide angle lens on my Canon EOS camera was too wide because there were people all around and the case was very dusty, which caused too many reflections. I decided to use my Nikon Coolpix to zoom in as close as possible to the forms in the glass cases. I was surprised to see actual teeth and part of a skull in one of the casts.

I can not even imagine the horror these people felt as the nearby Mount Vesivius erupted violently and very quickly afterwards a rain of volcanic ash buried their city. Now, nearly 2000 years later, we can see the forms of some of the people who lost their lives that day. The person in the second image looks as though he may be praying or holding his hands over his face. I wonder what was going through his mind at that moment in time.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.