This is the catalogue of the major Pompeii exhibition at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, opening 18 April 2019. The splendid frescoes with Enthroned Zeus and Achilles and Briseis from the House of the Tragic Poet (MANN), Dionysus and Ariadne and Alexander and Roxana from the House of the Golden Bracelet – from the Parco Archeologico di Pompei – and the exceptional marble inlays featuring a Dionysian Scene found in the House of the Coloured Capitals and conserved in the collections of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples, are but some of the 150+ works selected from the remarkable MANN and Pompeii collections to narrate the art, history and life of this ancient city. As was the custom of the times, men, gods and heroes are depicted alone or with attributes that clearly identify them. They are drawn not only from the decorations and works in public buildings, such as the imposing marble Herm of Mercury and the mosaic of the Three Graces, both from the Temple of Apollo in Pompeii on loan from the MANN, but also and more importantly in private houses: in their lararium, kitchen and atrium. It includes a fascinating and previously unpublished study on the circulation of Pompeiian iconography in European countries, with a special focus on Russia.
