1287 Pompei impronte c. 1888 - 1903

Giorgio Sommer created this photograph in the 19th century, documenting a plaster cast from Pompeii. What’s striking is how Sommer’s work captures not just the form, but the very texture of the hardened volcanic ash. This wasn't fine art in the traditional sense, but rather an early form of documentation, akin to scientific record-keeping. The original casts were made by pouring plaster into the hollow spaces left by bodies decomposed within the ash. The result preserves the final moments of life, a poignant intersection of natural disaster and human, or in this case animal, fate. Consider the labor involved: excavating the site, carefully pouring the plaster, and then Sommer's own work, meticulously photographing the result. These casts, and Sommer's images of them, became powerful symbols of historical preservation and the fleeting nature of life. It is a reminder that even in the face of catastrophe, the impulse to record and remember persists.