A wooden cupboard that survived Vesuvius destruction of Herculaneum with all of its contents in place has gone on display at the Antiquarium of the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum after a complex program of stabilization and restoration.The way the eruption of Vesuvius struck Herculaneum was different than what happened in Pompeii. While Pompeii was being showered in pumice rock, trapping people who sought shelter and causing roofs to come down on them, Herculaneum was unaffected on the first day of the eruption. Then the wind changed and the great pillar of ash and smoke collapsed, unleashing a pyroclastic surge of boiling gases and ash at temperatures exceeding 800F that engulfed the town. Everyone there was killed instantly and wood was carbonized on the spot. Herculaneum was then hit by six floods of volcanic mud, one after the other, burying under 70 feet of sludge. The mud quickly cooled and hardened into solid rock, leaving the entire city under a massive air-tight layer of volcanic tufa. No oxygen could penetrate it, and all that carbonized organic material, from morsels of food to entire villa roofs, was preserved for 2,000 years.The carbonized cupboard was discovered in a second story apartment next to the luxurious the House of the Bicentenary on the Decumanus Maximus, Herculaneums main street, in 1937. Detailed documentation in the excavation diaries record that it was found containing an assortment of tableware cups, glasses, jugs, pots in their original arrangement on the shelves. It was recognized at the time as an extraordinary snapshot of daily life in a Roman family of the 1st century.The superintendent of the excavation of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Amedeo Maiuri, placed it on display on the ground floor storefront under the apartment where it was found. This was part of his idea of Herculaneum as a museum city, a Roman town resurrected where visitors could step back in time and experience a living Roman antiquity just as it was 2,000 years ago. Maiuri, a supporter of Mussolini and his push to define Fascist Italy as the direct descendant of Imperial Rome, saw this as a means of connecting modern Italians to their Romanita, the Fascist doctrine that identified its brand of nationalism and imperialism with classical Roman culture. Recreating scenes of everyday life at home, in the street, at a shop, etc. conveyed the relatable humanity of the ancient world as history books never could. The carbonized wood furniture played an essential role in these tableaux.In 1938, archaeologists, historians and Fascist functionaries visited Herculaneum as the culmination of the Convegno Augusteo, a conference of archaeologists assembled on the occasion of the Mostra Augustea della Romanit, the Fascist governments celebration bimillennium of the birth of Augustus. Herculaneum was also celebrating the 200th anniversary of its first excavation, and the reconstructed House of the Bicentenary, obviously named in honor of the date, was the centerpiece of a celebration. The cupboard and all its tableware were installed in the first floor shopfront under the apartment where it was discovered. Heres newsreel footage of the event, with Maiuri in his black shirt showing the dignitaries around his museum city.The advent of war stopped excavations and the cupboard was dismantled and stored in a wooden chest for decades. Conservators embarked on a new program of study and restoration in 2022 with the goal of stabilizing it for transport and long-term display.The relocation, particularly delicate due to the artifacts fragility, required a complex operation coordinated by restorers, archaeologists, and specialized technicians, who worked for an entire day, ensuring maximum safety. Today, the sideboard is located on the mezzanine level of the Antiquarium, within a display that faithfully reproduces the original layout intended by Maiuri. Thanks to excavation documentation, it was possible to reconstruct and replace the tableware found in 1937 on the sideboard, thus providing a vivid and authentic image of domestic life two thousand years ago.The find is displayed next to a cradle, in a collection that speaks of intimacy and everyday life, and the lararium found in the same room of apartment V,18, restored in 2021 as part of the 19th edition of Restituzioni di Banca Intesa Sanpaolo. []The sideboards return to display represents a key step in the valorization of Herculaneums heritage, offering a unique opportunity to experience, with emotion and wonder, the daily life of the ancient Herculaneum residents.
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