I unfortunately forget the name of the second store, but it had a couple display cases worth of models. I also grabbed a figure while I was here. This time is was the Cavalry Office of the Companions from Alexandros Models.
The trip wasn't all about figures of course, but I also took some nice reference photos while touring the ruins. We had a few days down in Naples and I took a tour of Herculaneum. People are much more familiar with Pompeii, but Herculaneum was on the other side of Mt Vesuvius and buried at the same time. However, the difference in location caused it to be buried in a slightly different way which lead to some of the wood and furniture in the city being petrified instead of burned like in Pompeii. It also seemed like more of the art on the walls survived. I don't know about you, but since most of the ruins we see are plain rock, we get the impression that these ancient cities were very plain. However, the reality is that almost all the surfaces would have been covered in decoration. Here are a few examples from Herculaneum...
First, a nice mural
And here are some wall paintings...
We also stopped by the archaeological museum in Naples, where many of the artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum are stored. They took a lot of the murals and wall paintings including this amazing mural of Alexander the great. I'd seen pictures, but it was so neat to see it in real life. I was not prepared for the shear size of this thing!
If you're working on historical figures from the Greek and Roman eras, don't be afraid to add lots of color and detail to the scenery. Their world was a much more colorful place than most of us think.
Amazing that there's not just one, but two, stores dedicated to models. Not something you would find in an American city! I wonder how much that speaks to whether the hobby is more "mainstream" in Europe.
ReplyDeleteVery cool photos and subjects. Thanks for posting them!