Image: Getty Villa, Los Angeles
The Getty Museum Store is highlighting ‘Inside Pompeii’, a photographic book by Italian artist Luigi Spina that presents an intimate visual tour of the ancient city. Published by Getty Publications in 2023, the hardcover volume was produced in partnership with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and is listed by the store at $125.
The book focuses on Pompeii’s architecture and interiors, including spaces described by the publisher as having never been seen by the public. Spina’s photographs move through the city’s houses, courtyards and decorated rooms, documenting mosaic floors, wall paintings, columns and other architectural details across the archaeological site.
According to the Getty’s publication description, the photographs were made in natural light at different times of day and in every season. The approach emphasizes the changing atmosphere of Pompeii as well as the preservation of its surfaces, from lacy peristyles and ruined columns to richly decorated interiors.
The volume includes images of polychrome marble, geometric black-and-white floor mosaics, mythological wall paintings and representations of gardens containing birds, fruits and botanical motifs. Its focus is on the built environment and the visual character of the city rather than on the human remains associated with the eruption that buried Pompeii.
‘Inside Pompeii’ also contains an essay by Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, alongside meditations on the city’s history, architecture and natural beauty. The collaboration connects Spina’s photographic record with the institution responsible for the archaeological site.
Spina is identified by Getty as an Italian photographer who has published more than 20 books and created photographic campaigns for museums and other institutions throughout Europe. His work in this volume is presented as a sustained photographic study of Pompeii’s spaces, combining broader views of the city with close attention to architectural and decorative details.
The book runs to 480 pages and includes 274 color illustrations. Measuring 9½ by 12½ inches, it is issued in hardcover under the imprint of the J. Paul Getty Museum, with ISBN 978-1-60606-890-8.
