Isola Sacra

I can't believe how fast the time is going - I have been here for 4 weeks today! The last couple of days have been quiet on the blogging front but pretty industrious otherwise. Thanks to Valerie in the library I have been getting really immersed in the Ashby Archive which consists of a pretty sizeable collection of his photographs as well as the amulets. I'll talk more about this in future posts as today I am off very shortly to the Vatican Museum with the CoR crew.

On Wednesday evening Ellen Westcott (Macrquarie University Gale Scholar) gave the most sensitive and illuminating talk titled 'Measuring sentiment. The tombs and epitaphs of Isola Sacra' contextualising it beautifully with this inscription on the corridor outside our studios here



It was brilliant to go and visit the actual tombs which she described on a trip to Isola Sacra yesterday. Isola Sacra is an ancient Roman burial place very near to Fiumicino Airport



Ellen described this tomb in detail - it was of a Midwife and her husband who was a doctor



You can see the Doctor at work in the terracotta on the left - here is one of his wife at work..



Ellen explained yesterday at the site, that this burial ground was not a grand one for really rich people - I really liked being in a place that was for ordinary working people. The whole experience was quite moving.

I am going to keep this post brief for now and write more later but here is something for today which George forwarded me from our friend Shirley..