The Art Exhibitions Blog

Nero has had a bad press for 2000 years. Roman writers trashed his reputation as cruel and debauched after his early death, and as you enter Nero: The Man Behind the Myth at the British Museum in London, that impression is conveyed by a big blow-up shot of Peter Ustinov portraying the Roman Emperor in the 1951 movie Quo Vadis ,   looking more than a bit unhinged. (The curators, alas, don't reference the Christopher Biggins interpretation, neither from the 1970s BBC series I, Claudius  nor the  Heineken lager commercial .)  It wasn't like that at the beginning of his reign, though. The fifth Roman Emperor, Nero came to power in 54 AD aged just 16 amid high hopes of a new golden age for Rome following the death of the elderly Claudius. Official portraits emphasised his youth and vigour, with a simple, bold new hairstyle. The show takes you through Nero's story over the 14 years of his rule and leaves you to make up your own mind about his achievements -- seemingly qui...

So, fancy popping out for a drink at the caupona this evening? Or shall we stay in instead? Ask the neighbours round for a nice krater of Falernian wine, and get the slaves to whip up some of your favourite dishes? Glires for starters.... In Last Supper in Pompeii , at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, we find out how food and drink wasn't just a Roman love affair, it was a matter of life and death, and the afterlife too. Because, however advanced and sophisticated the Romans may have been in many respects, life expectancy was still short, and the grim reaper could be along to fetch you off in the morning. That's why this grinning skeleton embellished a mosaic floor panel in the dining room of a house in Pompeii, the Roman city that exemplifies the here-today-gone-tomorrow nature of life, buried as it was by volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius exploded in 79 AD. But even as death walks towards you as you recline on your couch, he's got a wine jug in each hand.... So carpe...

Almost 2000 years on, the men and women of Roman London still have tales to tell. The place to learn some of their secrets, and to puzzle about many more, is the Museum of London Docklands, whose intriguing (and free)  Roman Dead exhibition peels back the centuries and uncovers a multi-ethnic metropolis marked by poor health, violence and inequality. Last year, a rare Roman sarcophagus was unearthed during preparations for building work in Southwark -- it's only the third to be found in the city since 1999. Around it, the museum has built an exhibition with about 250 objects to show how the Romans of London died and how they were buried or cremated. It sounds macabre -- and be warned, there are human skeletons on display, including those of babies -- but the details the curators have drawn out are fascinating. Let's start with the sarcophagus, because that's the focal point, though you don't actually see it until you're half way round. You're struck by it...