Pompeii in the Visual and Performing Arts

Mirella Romero Recio is Professor of Ancient History at the University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain. She is the principal researcher in the project, ‘The Reception and Influence of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Spain and Ibero-America’, which is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. She has published two books in Spanish: Ecos de un Descubrimiento: Viajeros Españoles en Pompeya 1748-1936 (2012) and Pompeya: Vida, muerte y Resurrección de la Ciudad Sepultada por el Vesubio (2010).

• List of IllustrationsList of ContributorsIntroduction: The Reception of Pompeii in Spain and Latin America, Mirella Romero Recio1. The ‘Pompeian House’ in Spain: A Source of Inspiration between Reality and Utopia, Mirella Romero Recio2. Echoes of Pompeii in Mexico: Academy, Society and Art, Aurelia Vargas Valencia and Elvia Carreño Velázquez3. Art and Rhetoric for an Empire: The Pompeiian Style in Puerto Rico and the United States during the Nineteenth Century, Daniel Expósito4. Pompeian Influences on the Elite of Santiago de Chile: Visual Arts, Antiquities and Architecture (Nineteenth Century), Carolina Valenzuela Matus5. Joaquín Sorolla and Pompeii: The Impact of a Trip on his Life and his Oeuvre, Ana Valtierra6. The Reflection of the Ancient World in Pictorial Scenes: The Quest for the Pompeian Atmosphere in Spanish Costumbrist Paintings, María Martín de Vidales García7. The Archaeological Discoveries of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and their Reception through Plaster Copies and Photography, Jesús Salas Álvarez8. Pompeii and Herculaneum in Cuba: The Impact of the Archaeological Finds on the Island’s Visual Arts, Federica Pezzoli9. Excavating the Past and Framing New Identities in the 19th Century: Vesuvius, Pompeii and Modernity in Rio de Janeiro, Renata Senna Garraffoni10. Pompeian Echoes in Rural Houses in Central Chile: The Quest for New Identities, María Gabriela Huidobro Salazar11. The Last Days of Pompeii: From Literature to Comics in Latin America, Laura Buitrago12. The Latin American Pompeiis: From a Landscape in Ruins to the Image of Tragedy, Ricardo Del Molino García13. Epilogue, Shelley HalesNotesBibliographyIndex

This is an engaging and valuable volume, comprising chapters on recurring themes of architectural influence, cultural politics, and elite materiality ... I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the impact of classical traditions on modern architecture and visual arts, as well as to scholars working on national identities and Latin America’s efforts to distance itself from its colonial past.