As absurd as I find the term “frozen victims” for the plaster casts of people & animals at Pompeii, the exhibition about the history of the casts and their creation might be a fascinating and useful one for academic types and tourists alike (provided tourists can find their way to Boscoreale).

It’s my hope that the exhibition problematizes the casts a bit more than the BBC article does, portraying the casts as straightforward and scientific.

I believe Gene Dwyer has been consulting on this exhibition. Maybe he will chime in here (Hi Gene!).

The video on the BBC page might be of use for students’ first encounter with the plaster casts.

EDIT: In case you haven’t yet seen Dwyer’s great essay on plaster casts of Pompeian victims, read it here at Interpreting Ceramics.