Description:
Photograph of the sculpture gallery in Capitol Museum, Rome.

Label Text:
Installed in Art Before 700 CE, Fall 2025 Label Text:

Photography, Extraction, and the Museum

19th-century visitors to Pompeii were sometimes met with disappointment. The ancient Roman city, preserved by volcanic ash, captured imaginations and inspired works of art. Tourists’ expectations of a pristine city with frescoes and gardens frequently fell short of reality; they often remarked that the site was hot, dusty, and surprisingly empty.

Thousands of objects extracted from sites like Pompeii were sent to Naples and Rome for display in museums like the Capitoline. These photographs, likely purchased as souvenirs, reveal how travelers encountered and remembered the places they visited. Photography, like archeology, became a method of extraction as photographs “captured” and categorized objects and places.

[Displayed with 2015.30.16]

Tags:
interiors; architecture

Subjects:
Photography--Printing processes--Albumen; interior; Architecture

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+2015.30.28

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.