Dallas, TX—August 25, 2026—This December, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) unveils a landmark exhibition that brings the story of Pompeii to life through more than 160 works preserved in startling detail by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Journey Through Pompeii: Masterpieces from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples is a sweeping portrait of this once-vibrant ancient Roman city, inviting visitors to encounter the artworks and artifacts that animated the daily lives of its inhabitants. The DMA is the debut venue for the exhibition’s U.S. tour, which will offer audiences across the country a special opportunity to experience this remarkable collection outside of Italy. Journey Through Pompeii opens at the DMA on December 13, 2026, and will remain on view through May 2, 2027; the exhibition will then travel to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts before concluding its U.S. tour at the Frist Art Museum.
“Pompeii is one of the most enduring stories in history because it is an unparalleled archaeological time capsule capturing an entire civilization. A thriving city was rapidly buried, and the objects preserved by the eruption reach us across two millennia with a rare immediacy,” said Brian Ferriso, The Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art. “It is fitting to bring this exhibition to the Dallas Museum of Art, alongside our permanent collection, which spans the history of human creativity across cultures, from antiquity to the present day. We are offering our community an opportunity to see that the undercurrents of life back then weren’t so different from our own: people felt the same hunger for beauty, connection and meaning that defines us today.”
“Pompeii is moving because of what survived and what those remnants reveal about daily life,” said Brendan McGuire, PNC regional president for North Texas. “What stays with you is the ordinary: a loaf of bread left in an oven, graffiti on a wall, a mosaic in a dining room. You realize how much of an entire city endured, right down to what people ate and cared about. Having an exhibition of this caliber make its U.S. debut in Dallas is significant. PNC believes experiencing work of this stature shouldn’t require a journey across the Atlantic, and helping bring this exhibition to North Texas is exactly the role we want to play in this region.”
“Journey Through Pompeii is a testament to the creativity, ambition and connection that define the human experience,” said Andy Smith, Director of Giving and Volunteering for Texas Instruments (TI) and Executive Director of the TI Foundation. “At TI, supporting the arts in Dallas is a core value—a legacy that began with our founders, including Eugene McDermott, and continues today through the TI Foundation and our employees and retirees. We're honored to help bring this exhibition to our community, a powerful reminder that art and archaeology unite us across time.”
Organized into thematic sections, Journey Through Pompeii unfolds many layers of life in Pompeii and the Bay of Naples in the 1st century CE, including its social and political fabric, sport and entertainment, domestic life, dining customs and more. Throughout the exhibition, visitors encounter frescoes depicting captivating mythological narratives and imaginative architectural designs, intricate sculptures and floor mosaics, finely crafted household furnishings, luxury items, ritual objects and domestic wares.
While Journey Through Pompeii focuses on the city before its demise, the exhibition concludes with a poignant tribute to the individuals affected by the natural disaster. The final gallery features a replica of a plaster cast of one of the inhabitants, alongside interpretive materials providing context on the eruption and its human toll. Altogether, the exhibition uplifts Pompeii as a timeless testament to human creativity and the stories that endure long beyond our fleeting existence.
“Journey Through Pompeii at the Dallas Museum of Art will transport visitors back to the ancient Roman city of Pompeii and the cities and towns around the Bay of Naples just prior to the catastrophic eruption,” said Dr. Anabelle Gambert-Jouan, the DMA’s Lillian and James H. Clark Assistant Curator of European Art. “Featuring exceptional loans from Italy, this exhibition makes history tangible and shows what can be learned from expressions of artistic, cultural and quotidian activities across the city, from public spaces to private homes.”
“This exceptional collaboration with three of America’s most distinguished cultural institutions—the Dallas Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Frist Art Museum—marks an important milestone in the international partnerships fostered by the National Archaeological Museum of Naples,” said Francesco Sirano, Director of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. “Museums today are called not only to preserve collections but also to build bridges between cultures, promote research and encourage dialogue through the universal language of heritage. This exhibition embodies that mission. By sharing these extraordinary works from Pompeii and Herculaneum, we reaffirm our commitment to making one of the world’s greatest archaeological legacies accessible to an ever wider international audience, while strengthening a network of cooperation that will continue to generate knowledge, innovation and cultural exchange well beyond the duration of the exhibition.”
Following the DMA presentation of the exhibition, Journey Through Pompeii will travel to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) in Richmond, Virginia (June 12, 2027 to January 2, 2028) and the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee (February 4 to May 7, 2028).
Support
Journey Through Pompeii: Masterpieces from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Frist Art Museum and National Archaeological Museum of Naples, with the support of MondoMostre. This exhibition is co-presented by PNC Bank and Texas Instruments. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by generous DMA Members and donors, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.
