Among the works featured in the exhibition catalogue for The Last Days of Pompeii exhibition (February 24th- May 19th, 2013) is one by Robert S. Duncanson entitled Pompeii (oil on canvas, 1855). Duncanson (1821-1872), like most artists whose work is featured in the exhibition, also traveled to Europe where he may have observed the impressive ruins first-hand.

No, there definitely weren’t any ninjas in ancient Pompeii. But starting in March, there will be Theater Ninjas in the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 destroyed, yet paradoxically preserved the ancient city of Pompeii, providing a vivid glimpse into the daily lives of ancient Romans. Since the rediscovery of the site in the 1700s, centuries of leading artists—from Piranesi, Ingres, and Alma-Tadema to Duchamp, Rothko, Warhol, and Gormley — have been inspired to re-imagine it in paintings, sculpture, photographs, performance and film.