DU2380 Discovering Pompeii. Archaeology, art and imagination on the threshold of the modern era

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2022
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Eliška Petřeková (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D.
Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 12:00–13:40 K31
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
Since their rediscovery beneath the lava and volcanic ash deposits that buried them in 79 AD, the extinct ancient cities beneath Vesuvius had a profound influence on the history and culture of Western civilization at the beginning of the modern era at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Almost immediately after excavations began in the mid-18th century, archaeological and artistic treasures from  Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other sites attracted attention and revived the world of antiquity in the imagination of the general public. They excited not only readers of novels, listeners in music halls, or scholars and scientists, but also influenced the way people thought about the past and about human existence as such. Thus, the fascination with archaeological discoveries in southern Italy in the 18th and 19th centuries materialized in various forms and in many areas of contemporary culture, science and art, which this lecture will present in an interdisciplinary way - from the perspective of cultural history, classical archaeology and art history.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course the student will be able to:
- identify and summarize the significance of archaeological discoveries for 18th century art;
- identify and describe the main artistic phenomena influenced by archaeology;
- propose and explain an appropriate method for researching a given phenomenon using a practical demonstration.
Syllabus
  • 1/ Lakoon, Michelangelo and the prehistory of classical archaeology in Rome in the 16th century
  • 2/ The discovery of Herculaneum and Pompeii in the first half of the 18th century
  • 3/ The archaeological turn around 1800: from antiquarianism to  modern science
  • 4/ The making of antiquity: archaeology, architecture and neoclassical design in the late 18th century
  • 5/ Souvenir, luxury object, forgery: the archaeological artefact as a commercial commodity in the Rococo and Neoclassical eras
  • 6/ Poetic archaeology: monuments of antiquity as a source of poetic inspiration at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries
  • 7/ From cork model to plaster cast: the beginnings of archaeological documentation around 1800
  • 8/ The birth of the modern museum and the display of antiquities at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries
  • 9/ The archaeology of taste: the ancient artefact as a source of inspiration in neoclassical and romantic art
  • 10/ Fascination with the destruction of Pompeii in 18th to 20th century Western culture
  • 11/ Archaeology in the public imagination in the 19th century
Literature
  • DODERO, Eloisa. Ancient marbles in Naples in the eighteenth century : findings, collections, dispersals. Leiden: Brill, 2019, xxiii, 630. ISBN 9789004362857. info
  • FURLOTTI, Barbara. Antiquities in motion : from excavation sites to Renaissance collections. Los Angeles: The Getty Research Institute, 2019, ix, 281. ISBN 9781606065914. info
  • Pompeii in the public imagination from its rediscovery to today. Edited by Shelley Hales - Joanna Paul. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, xix, 417. ISBN 9780199569366. info
  • BLIX, Göran. From Paris to Pompeii : French romanticism and the cultural politics of archaeology. Philadelphia: Penn, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009, 310 stran. ISBN 9780812241365. info
  • Antiquity recovered : the legacy of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Edited by Victoria C. Gardner Coates - Jon L. Seydl. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007, vii, 296. ISBN 9780892368723. info
  • COLTMAN, Viccy. Fabricating the antique : neoclassicism in Britain, 1760-1800. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006, xii, 256. ISBN 0226113965. info
  • History of antiquities collecting in the Czech lands. Edited by Marie Dufková - Iva Ondřejová. První vydání. Praha: Národní muzeum, 2006, 183 stran. ISBN 8070362162. info
  • Naples in the eighteenth century : the birth and death of a nation state. Edited by Girolamo Imbruglia. First published. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000, ix, 204. ISBN 9780521631662. info
  • LYTTON, Edward Bulwer Lytton. The last days of Pompeii. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1874, 428 s. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, field trip to southern Italy.
Assessment methods
Final written essay.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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