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Pompeii Exhibition 2026: Philip Colbert's Pop Mythology, Dates and Sites
Thirty monumental lobster sculptures move into the ruins, and into six sites around them, through November.
What is Pop Mythology, and when can you see it at Pompeii?
British pop artist Philip Colbert — often described in the Italian press as a contemporary heir to Andy Warhol — has installed his largest exhibition to date inside the Pompeii Archaeological Park. Philip Colbert in Pompeii: Pop Mythology opened on 27 July 2026 and runs through 30 November, first reported by Il Mattino and confirmed by NapoliToday and Napoli Village. It centres on Colbert's recurring alter ego, a giant lobster rendered in bright, cartoonish colour, cast here as more than 30 monumental sculptures set directly among the ruins.
It's the kind of contrast the park has leaned into in past years — dropping unmistakably modern work into a 2,000-year-old streetscape — and the scale of this one, running four full months, makes it worth planning around rather than stumbling into.
Which sites hold the exhibition beyond the main ruins?
Pop Mythology isn't confined to the amphitheatre and forum area most visitors already walk. The park has spread the sculptures across six further sites it also manages: the Antiquarium and villas of Boscoreale, the Villa of Oplontis in Torre Annunziata, Villa San Marco and Villa Arianna in Castellammare di Stabia, the Longola archaeological area, and the Real Polverificio Borbonico gunpowder works. Those satellite locations join the show from 28 July, a day after the Pompeii opening.
For a visitor with only a few hours, the main Pompeii site carries the bulk of the installation; the outlying villas reward anyone who's already planning a Herculaneum-and-Stabiae day and wants a reason to add Oplontis or Boscoreale to it.
Practical notes for building it into a visit
As a site-wide installation rather than a ticketed side exhibition, Pop Mythology is viewed as part of a standard visit to each location — no separate booking has been reported, but ticket prices, current opening hours, and any last-entry times should be checked directly on pompeiisites.org before travelling, since the park adjusts summer hours through the season.
Pompeii's main entrance is a two-minute walk from the Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri stop on the Circumvesuviana line from Naples or Sorrento. Anyone who's read our guide to visiting Herculaneum without the Pompeii crowds will recognise the same logic here: going early, before the mid-morning tour groups, is what makes wandering among 30 giant lobsters feel like a discovery rather than a queue.
Where to stay
Our homes in Pompeii
The Roman city frozen by Vesuvius in 79 AD — and a working modern town that makes a serious base for the volcano, Herculaneum, and Naples day trips.
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