Gypsum casts of bodies in Pompeii

The biggest impression in Pompeii is caused by plaster casts of bodies. They are not real bodies, because during the volcanic eruption: dust and heat killed people. A few meters of ash covered bodies that simply disappeared under the influence of temperature, creating an empty space in the middle.

In 1864, the workers, whom Giuseppe Fiorelli – the director of the excavations in Pompeii – ordered to inform him about everything, drew attention to the skeleton lying in one of the streets. Only the skull, body and clothing were removed, decomposed, leaving the bones in an empty space, limited by fossilized ash. Fiorelli came to the conclusion that pouring, through a small hole into this space, liquid stuccowork will recreate the shape of the body. Thanks to this method, to this day we can admire casts of the inhabitants of Pompeii who were twisted in the deathly convulsions.