First a Volcanic Eruption, Now a Crustacean Invasion? See the Giant Lobsters Taking Over the Ancient City of Pompeii

A pop art installation featuring more than 30 sculptures from artist Philip Colbert is the first contemporary sculpture exhibition to land in Pompeii in three decades

Christian Thorsberg | Daily Correspondent

August 7, 2026 10:17 a.m.

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Visitors to Pompeii’s ancient archaeological site and ash-preserved ruins may be quite surprised to see that the city from antiquity has been overrun with giant, costumed crustaceans.

Some three dozen lobster sculptures, made by Scottish pop artist Philip Colbert, were recently installed in the remains of the Roman city that was famously buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E. The artworks—many of which stand taller than a human—are the latest in Colbert’s years-long series of lobster takeovers in cities around the world, including London, Shanghai, Seoul, Venice and Rome.

An evolving project meant to place ancient locations and modern art in conversation with each other, this newest exhibition, called “Pompeii: Pop Mythology,” is the first contemporary sculpture project to land in Pompeii in 30 years.

“Pompeii is, for me, the ultimate city of antiquity—a place that exists beyond time,” Colbert says in a statement on his website. “I can’t think of a more powerful setting in which to create a sculptural dialogue about time, identity and the ways art can transcend its limitations. The ruins of Pompeii embody both tragedy and beauty, and the city itself feels suspended between past and present.”

Colbert’s installation features a lobster disguised as a Roman column and one wearing the Colosseum as a collar. There are 12 new designs, including some black steel and bronze sculptures representing “speculative ruins from an imagined future.” Artworks are placed in prominent spots around the archaeological park, such as at the antiquarium exhibition space and the basilica legal and administrative center.

Colbert got rare permission to install statues inside the city’s houses. This includes a lobster—dressed in a pink turtleneck and holding a miniature temple—at the Casa di Cerere, which was named after a terracotta bust of Ceres, goddess of the earth, discovered there.

But perhaps the most symbolic statue of the whole exhibition stands in the Casa del Fauno, one of Pompeii’s most famous buildings. Built in the second century B.C.E., the large home is recognized today for its significant collection of mosaics, one of which includes a scene of sea creatures that prominently features a lobster.

“I’ve been obsessed by the legacy and presence of that [lobster] symbol in our ancient history,” Colbert tells the Times of London’s David Sanderson. “And one of the great masterpieces of the lobster in our history is that mosaic scene.”

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Colbert, 46, has been referred to as the “godson of Andy Warhol” after André Leon Talley, the late editor-at-large of Vogue, gave him the moniker. Colbert has called the cartoon lobster his “alter ego” and hopes that their presence in Pompeii helps visitors experience the site with a fresh perspective. The artist tells the Scotsman’s Jane Bradley that his own artistic journey was partly inspired by visits as a child to a Roman fort outside of Perth, Scotland.

“When I went to Pompeii, it all came rushing back to me,” Colbert tells the outlet. “Here I was, with my art to be able to tap into history and time and to be in a place which is such a definitive icon of what archaeology means. The myth and storytelling around Pompeii means it is a place which has this cult status.”

This isn’t the first time Colbert’s lobsters have descended on Italy. During the 2022 Venice Biennale, his giant, floating Lobstar installation—placed on a barge in the Giudecca canal—marked the beginning of an effort to release 7,777 actual lobsters back to the wild. In 2024, his “House of the Lobster” exhibition explored the famed Pompeii mosaic with sculptures and installations at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Last year, his open-air “Lobsteropolis” brought his sculptures to Sicily.

The Pompeii lobster exhibition, which officially opened on July 27, will remain on view through November.

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer and photographer from Chicago. His work, which often centers on freshwater issues, climate change and subsistence, has appeared in Circle of Blue, Sierra magazine, Discover magazine and Alaska Sporting Journal.