Vanity is a short-lived pleasure offering an appealing illusion of happiness and has invariably been fuelled by a display of riches, even in the Greek and Roman worlds. It is the theme of a refined exhibition entitled Vanity. Stories of Jewellery from the Cyclades to Pompeii, at the Palestra Grande of the Pompei excavations (west portico) from 10 May to 5 August 2019.

Jewellery from the Cyclades and Pompeii is compared in an elegant display of styles and civilisations, the common ground being vanity and the ostentation of wealth. Gems, necklaces, fibulae, earrings, rings and armillae in gold, silver and bronze, with inserts in precious and semiprecious materials (ivory, stone, glass paste, coral, pearls etc.), from Delos and the other islands in the Cyclades will be exhibited alongside jewellery found in Pompeii and other sites in Campania (Longola, Sarno, Paestum, Oplontis, Terzigno and Herculaneum).

The exhibition design compares two flourishing areas of the Mediterranean: Delos and Pompeii, age-old trading centres and the crossroads of cultures and religions. The project, which originated as part of a partnership between the Parco Archeologico of Pompeii and the Ephorate of the Cyclades, is aimed at the broader production of shared study, research and promotion programmes and will boost knowledge of their respective archaeological heritages.