|
from Italian Journey by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2) Pompeii
"Pompeii and Vesuvius are separated by some distance;
the city cannot have been buried by debris driven by the
force of the eruption or by a strong wind. I think that
stone and ash must have stayed suspended in the air for
a time, like clouds, before falling on the doomed city.
To get a better picture of what must have happened,
think of a mountain village buried by an avalanche of
snow. The buildings were all crushed, and even the
spaces between the buildings were filled in by the
debris such that nothing remained on the surface except
perhaps an occasional wall sticking up. People came
along and then planted vineyards and gardens on it. It
was probably farmers working their plots of land who
discovered the first significant treasures…" |
"March
11,
1787...Everyone is surprised at how small
and compact Pompeii is. The streets are paved and
straight, but they are narrow; the houses are small,
with no windows—the only light that comes in is from
the entrances and open porticoes. The public
buildings, even the bench tomb at the town gate, a
nearby temple and villa look rather like
architectural models or doll-houses than real
buildings. The chambers, passage-ways and arcades
are brightly painted. There are rich frescoes on the
smooth walls, but most of them have faded by now.
The frescoes are surrounded by delightful and
tasteful ornamental designs: children, nymphs, wild
or tame animals emerging out of luxuriant floral
wreaths. The city is now totally destroyed, buried
beneath ash and stones, and then looted; yet, it
still shows the people's feel for—and love of—art,
which even the most fervent lover of art today does
not understand or even wish to have.