Last Supper in Pompeii: The Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco: 3 June 2021

In 79 AD, the Bay of Naples was rocked by the fiery eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pompeii and nearby villages and farms were wholly buried under pumice and hot ash, killing thousands of people.

This exhibition, organized initially by Paul Roberts of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford, brings to San Francisco Roman sculpture, mosaics, frescoes, cups, and utensils. 

Excavations in 1984 at Oplontis, near Pompeii, uncovered a vaulted storage room containing more than 60 people who were killed in the eruption. Archaeologists made casts of some of the victims by pouring plaster of Paris into the voids in the ash left by the bodies. One of these was cast in wax and then in resin. This unique, transparent cast shows the bones, skull, and teeth of a woman, as well as the possessions she carried—from gold jewelry to a string of cheap beads. The “Lady of Oplontis,” as she is called, is stronger than the other casts and was, therefore, able to be brought to the San Francisco exhibition.

The exhibition was available for viewing through 29 August 2021.

Click on an image to view the full-size photograph.

 View from Clement Street looking west. The treed area ahead on the right is the location of the Legion of Honor Museum. 

This is currently the Clement Street branch of Bank of the West. This bank building opened for business on 1 January 1926.

Tong Palace, located on Clement Street, is now closed.

This location was the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway. Looking east and visible ahead is Salesforce Tower, which at an elevation of 1,070 feet, is the tallest building in San Francisco. Seen to the left of Salesforce Tower, and approximately 45 miles in the distance, is Mount Diablo at an elevation of 3,848 feet.

The Legion of Honor museum is located adjacent to the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway. The museum opened on Armistice Day, 11 November 1924.

The Pompeii exhibition.

Lady of Oplontis

The Pompeii exhibition.

The Pompeii exhibition.

The Pompeii exhibition.

Leaving the Legion of Honor. Mount Sutro is visible; its summit (909 ft.) is hidden by a layer of fog.

On a 38R Geary Rapid Transit bus traveling east on Geary Boulevard towards downtown San Francisco.

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"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.” Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams

"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

 These photographs were taken with a Sony camera.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com.

San Francisco – A ramble from the Balboa Park BART station to the Daly City BART station, plus two views of downtown Oakland as seen from the West Oakland BART station: 1 & 7 May 2021

Click on an image to view the full-size photograph.

This map shows the route as tracked by a Garmin GPS.

Leaving the Balboa Park BART station and crossing over Interstate 280.

John McLaren Park can be seen ahead and to the right, while the top of Salesforce Tower, the tallest building in San Francisco, is barely visible on the left. This is a four-image panoramic photo.

THEN  This is a scene of Ocean View Park, as viewed approximately six to nine months after the earthquake of 18 April 1906. Governmental agencies provided the funds necessary to construct many small refugee shacks throughout San Francisco.

NOW  Here is a current view of Ocean View Park. 

Here is a view of downtown Oakland as seen from the West Oakland BART station.

Another view of downtown Oakland as seen from the West Oakland BART station.

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"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.” Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams

"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

 These photographs were taken with a Sony camera.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com.

San Francisco – Rambling through the Outer Mission including a view of the Geneva Car Barn & Powerhouse: 24 April 2021

Click on an image to view the full-size photograph. 

The Outer Mission area of San Francisco.

The Geneva Car Barn streetcar storage area.

A streetcar moving through the Geneva Car Barn storage area.

NOW  The Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse.

 THEN The Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse was built in 1901; this view is circa 1930.

This is a former Hibernia Bank building. The building is located on Mission Street and it was constructed in 1928.

Mount Davidson

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"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.” Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams

"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

 These photographs were taken with a Sony camera.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com.