Apollo from Pompeii at the Getty Villa – Ancient art meets technology

In the year 79 A.D. the volcanic eruption of the Vesuvio flooded the city of Pompeii, right at the foot of the mountain. After centuries, with the archeological excavations, Pompeii comes back to life. Since then visitors from all over the world travel to Italy to walk through the ancient Roman city, located thirty kilometers north of Naples. The treasure of Pompeii is still an object of studies: in fact, within the many recovered objects, some have a great historical and artistic value.

The Apollo Saettante is one of these. Thanks to an agreement between the Paul Getty Museum and the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Apollo is now exhibited at the Getty Villa in Malibu. First recovered in 1817, the statue remained incomplete until October 1818 when the last two pieces were discovered. Even if all the different parts have been found in different areas of the site, this statue is thought to be part of the Temple of Apollo in Pompeii.

Archeologists have questioned for years the dislocation between the parts of the statue; today the main theories say the Apollo was moved either due to the repairs of the temple or in order to reuse the bronze. Bronze is indeed the material that covers the external part of the statue. The technique used for the Apollo is one of the most common of that time in the Mediterranean area: the lost-wax technique. It is constituted of a basic model made of wax material that can be easily modeled and assembled, then surrounded by the final layer of bronze. Each fragment is then joined together.

The Apollo arrived in Calif-ornia in 2009, where experts and scholars had the chance to make new studies on it. Not only they provided to fix some parts of the statue, but they also designed a special anti-seismic theca, with new techniques elaborated by the team of the same Getty Villa. The theca will grant the statue a long life once back home.

The Apollo, God of prophecy, music, and healing for the ancient Romans and Greeks, has been presented in this exhibit together with its twin sister Diana, goddess of the hunt, discovered in the Temple of Apollo at Pompeii in March 1817. It will be available to the public until September 12, 2011. Admission to the Getty Villa is free. An interactive touch-screen display in the exhibition will provide visitors with the opportunity to explore the statue, which will also be available on the museum's website www. getty.edu.

The excellent organization of the Getty Villa in Malibu also made possible to accompany the exhibition with lectures and workshops: Erik Risser , assistant conservator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, and David Saunders, assistant curator of antiquities, will give an hour-long talk on the exhibition on July 7, July 14 and August 11, 2011. The exhibition is part of a cultural exchange agreement between the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Paul Getty Museum signed in 2007.

This collaboration is a great occasion for Italy to share its cultural heritage through wonderful masterpieces. At the same time it makes possible the application of new techniques to its artworks, techniques that are not available in Italy. The agreement is a proof of how the combination of art and technology can be a successful way to preserve an entire culture, which belongs not only to Italy, but to the international community, and is part of a shared history.

Alessandra Mastroianni