Went to see the Pompeii: Life in a Roman Town 79CE Exhibition at the National Museum today. It was really insightful, to see how something which was alive 2000 years ago is still here, right in front of you.

The highlight of the exhibition was the resin casts of people and animals excavated from the ruins of Pompeii. If you havent seen it, let me tell you what it looks like. Imagine yourself crouched on the floor, then someone poors cement over you. The cement hardens and you are still there 2000 years later, the only difference is that the gray cement has now turned in a dull yellowish and disgusting colour. Those resin casts were simply made of the remains of the victims' bones, flesh, and clothes, all coated in volcanic ash. Thinking about it now makes me wanna cry.

"...they are human beings seen in their agony. This is not art, it is not imitation, these are their bones, the remains of their flesh and their clothes mixed with plaster, it is the sadness of death that characterises body and form. I see their wretchedness. I hear their cries as they call to their mothers, and i see them fall and writhe..."
-Lugi Settembrini (1813-76)

See what I mean? Its disturbing.