Customer Reviews

Angels of Pompeii

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This book is a collection of photographs taken of the walls in Pompeii. Some are of angels, while others are of figures or shapes that are not quite identifiable.
The photographer Stephen Brigidi was intrigued by these pictures and enlisted the help of noted poet Robert Bly to add words to his photos, thus "Angels of Pompeii" was born.

I enjoyed seeing the ancient images and reading the words that Mr. Bly wrote to accompany each one. I wonder how close he came to truly capturing the essence of
each picture. We may never know, but it's nice to imagine!

This is a collection of interesting photographs taken of walls in the ancient city of Pompeii. Many of the photographs are of angels and others have the appearance of some type of mystical figures.

The photographer, Stephen Brigidi was so fascinated by Pompeii that he made several trips there to take his pictures. He enlisted the help of another artist, Robert Bly to interpret the images. Mr. Bly lived with the photographs for several years and then wrote eight wondrous poems to accompany the pictures.

This book was a gift from my son who saw ancient images and beautiful poetry combined into an intriguing book. This is a lovely work that captures the imagination and makes me long to visit Pompeii.

Stephen Brigidi's photography of wall paintings from Pompeii have a mysterious atmosphere about them due to the hundreds of years that they lay under lava and volcanic ash. Thus water damage and seeping salts and minerals into the pigments have resulted in stunningly beautiful wall murals and images. Of the 24 photographs of the walls of ancient villas, 9 have images of angels or the Roman gods. These photographs have inspired the poet Robert Bly to edit and revise some of his older poems and to write new poems to accompany these photographs. Thus 8 poems by Bly accompany these photographs. This was a wonderful collaboration since Bly is a poet fully versed in mythology and the theories of psychologist Carl Jung. The poem "The One Coming Closer" is mysterious and yet makes reference to the undiscovered self emerging in all of us. "Men, Women, and Earth" is accompanied by a stunning male nude, possibly Dionysus due to the grape leaves in his hair, surrounded by a vast gold textured surface of incredible beauty. In this poem, the invisible nourishing powers of the earth for all nature is compared to the nourishment provided by love between lovers. "A Private Fall" connects the cool season where nature recedes to the desire to begin everything anew from the start. The images perfectly compliment the poetry of Robert Bly, who always links us to theme of spiritual and physical death and renewal.