Pompeii Casts. Victim number 9, the man lying on his back, found 23rd April 1875.

Found in Via Stabiana [Now Via del Vesuvio] near the north-east corner of VI.14

Found, together with the young girl lying face down, in the middle of the street in the layers of ash about four metres above ground level.

Victims nos. 9, at rear and 10, in front. Man and Woman from Strada Stabiana. Photo: G. Sommer.

See Giornale degli Scavi, n.s. IV, (1875), p.173).

Victims numbered 9 and 10, on display. From an Album by M. Amodio, c.1880, entitled “Pompei, destroyed on 23 November 79, discovered in 1748”.

These fugitives were found in the middle of the Via del Vesuvio (Via Stabiana) at about a height of four metres from the ancient street level, near the north-eastern corner of Reg. VI.14.

Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

Victim number 9. Tauchnitz photo No. 433 [photo Sommer] (c.1879). Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

Victim number 9. 1882 painting by Discanno of cast of a man found in Via Stabiana [now Via del Vesuvio] near the north-east corner of VI.14.

See Presuhn E., 1882. Pompeji: Die Neuesten Ausgrabungen von 1874 bis 1881. Leipzig: Weigel. (Abth. IV, Taf. X)

According to Presuhn,

On 23 April 1875, in Stabian Street, at p on the Plan, at a height of 4 metres, two skeletons were discovered on the ground on a layer of ashes, which were enclosed in the plaster with which the surrounding empty cavity was filled. Plates IX and X show us these renewed bodies.

The woman is quietly slumbering in death, lying with her face on her right arm. The plaster cast is so well made that one can still admire the gentle shapes of the limbs. At the back of the head one can see the large lock of hair in which the hair was tied together; a similar one is on the forehead. The light clothing only covers the upper part of the body. Also on the underside the body is almost fully developed. She is lying in a glass box, which can also be viewed from below.

On the other hand, how harsh a death struggle the man shows! The legs are drawn in, the hands grasp the garment convulsively and pull it up in thick folds. The face is full, the skull is high, the lips are thick and curled: in no way is he a model of beauty. The sandal straps are pronounced on the feet: Beside him lies an iron bar, eaten away by rust.

Who knows in which house on Stabian Street these unfortunates, who in their tragic fate will live on with posterity, lived 1800 years ago?

Nach Presuhn,

Am 23. April 1875 wurden in der Stabianerstrasse, bei p auf dem Plane, in 4 Meter Hohe. vom Boden auf einer Aschenschicht zwei Skelette entdeckt, die man in den Gips einschloss, mit welchem die umgebende leere Höhlung ausgegossen wurde. Tafel IX und X zeigen uns diese erneuerten Körper.

Ruhig schlummert die Frau im Tode, mit dem Gesicht auf dem rechten Arm liegend. Der Gips-Ausguss ist so gut gelungen, dass man noch die schonen Formen der Glieder bewundert. Am Hinterkopfe sieht man die große Haarlocke, in welche die Haare zusammengebunden waren; eine ähnliche ist auf der Stirn. Die leichte Kleidung bedeckt nur noch den Oberkörper. Auch auf der Unterseite ist der Körper fast vollständig ausgeprägt. Er liegt in einem Glaskasten, den man auch von unten betrachten kann.

Wie herben Todeskampf zeigt dagegen der Mann! Die Beine sind eingezogen, die Hände greifen krampfhaft ins Gewand und ziehen es in dicken Falten empor. Das Gesicht ist voll, der Schädel hoch, die Lippen sind dick aufgeworfen: ein keineswegs schöner-Typus. An den Fußen sind die Sandalen Bänder ausgeprägt: Neben ihm liegt eine eiserne Stange, vom Rost zerfressen.

Wer weiß, in welchem Hause an der Stabianerstrasse diese Unglücklichen, die in ihrem tragischen Geschick bei der Nachwelt fortleben, vor 1800 Jahren wohnten?

See Presuhn E., 1882. Pompeji: Die Neuesten Ausgrabungen von 1874 bis 1881. Leipzig: Weigel. (Abth. IV, p. 6, Taf. I, Taf. X)

Victim number 9, without a fig leaf clothing his body. From an album dated c.1875-1885. Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

Victim number 9, without the fig leaf clothing his body. Photographed by Giorgio Sommer, number 1284.

Photo courtesy of Eugene Dwyer.

Victim number 9, with fig leaf applied to the cast’s body, photographed in display case in museum, c.1900.

Photo courtesy of Eugene Dwyer.

Victim number 9 photographed in a display case in the museum. Photo courtesy of Eugene Dwyer.

Pompeii. April 2019. General view of two more plaster-casts, with victim numbered 9 at front, left of centre.

Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

Pompeii. April 2019. Plaster-cast known as Victim No.9.

Found in Via Stabiana, near north-east corner of VI.14, together with Victim No.10 on 23^rd April 1875.

Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer.

Pompeii. May 2018. Detail of plaster cast known as No.9. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.

Pompeii. May 2018. General view of two plaster-casts. On the left is the plaster-cast known as Victim No.9

Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.

Victim number 9, on left at front, interior of Pompeii Museum before 1889, (Room II). Photo: Edizioni Brogi.

Photo courtesy of Eugene Dwyer.

According to Dwyer, (p.99), starting from the left case,

Man no.9, See Brogi 5573;

Man no.6, See Brogi 5574;

Man no.1, See Brogi 5575;

Woman no.10, See Brogi 5576;

Woman no. 4, See Brogi 5577;

Two women nos. 2 & 3; See Brogi 5578;

Room III, Sick Man, no.7; See Brogi 5579;

Watchdog, no.8; See Brogi 5580; (the watchdog was later removed to Room II).

See Dwyer, E., 2010. Pompeii’s Living Statues. Ann Arbor: Univ of Michigan Press, (p.94).

In his description of this plaster-cast in his Guida di Pompei, 1877, Fiorelli described –

“Another man [no.9], on his back, with his legs and arms drawn up, protected by a cloak and sandals. (Reg. VI, Ins. XIV, via nona).”

See Fiorelli, Guida di Pompei, [Rome, 1877,] p.88-89.

(Note: Fiorelli wrote that victim 9 was found in Reg.VI, XIV, via nona, and that victim 10 was found at Reg. VI. XIV, cardo, and yet they had been found together).

Victim number 9, photographed in display case, on the right. Interior of Pompeii Museum before 1889, (Room II). Photo: Edizioni Brogi.

Photo courtesy of Eugene Dwyer.