Patton (the wife) and I had to day off yesterday and finally got out to see the Pompeii exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota. But rather than assume that anyone who is reading this knows that I’m talking about, here’s the short-short-short version: about 2,000 years ago the city of Pompeii (Italy) was buried under the effects of the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius. Many of victims died from a volcanic mudslide of sorts which left the world with last fossil records of these poor people in their last moments.

The exhibit was a bit pricey, but when you view all that they have to share you’ll quickly determine that it was well worth the money. I’m a sucker for artifacts, and the exhibit is filled with them. Everything from coins to the everyday items people used such as stoves, braziers, combs and even carbonized bread that was still in the oven. The entire exhibit is labeled with numbers that one can punch into a little hand-held guide that will play for the user extended information about any given subject in the exhibit. But it’s the final part the exhibit which truly takes your breath away.

You round the corner, see an enormous version of Karl Briullov’s ‘The Last Days of Pompeii’ and this is the first piece you see.

To the uninitiated, the victims of Pompeii were wiped out by pyroclastic slides, which is basically volcanic mud. I know that sounds oddly relaxing, but this is the kind of mud you don’t want to relax in at some spa. With temperatures estimated at 644°F (340°C) it’s life-snuffing. But when it encased the people of Pompeii and hardened into rock, the people inside eventually turned to dust leaving little natural cavities in the earth that some guy named Giuseppe Fiorelli had the brilliant idea of filling with plaster, letting it harden and then uncovering them. The result is nothing short of breathtaking.

Patton was very moved by the exhibit, and I reassured her that most of these people didn’t live long enough to suffer much. I was also struck by how close the SMM would allow visitors to get. I assure you that I’d never take my children there because I can’t even trust them with my TV remote, much less clearly labeled “DO NOT TOUCH” plaster artifacts. But after I left I was struck with the old mom adage “Are you wearing clean underwear” thing and I couldn’t help but laugh.

If you get the chance to see this kind of exhibit, I’d definitely make plans to do so.