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The National Archaeological Museum of Naples ( it, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, italic=no, sometimes abbreviated to MANN) is an important Italian archaeological museum, particularly for
ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
remains. Its collection includes works from Greek, Roman and Renaissance times, and especially Roman
artifact Artifact, or artefact, may refer to: Science and technology * Artifact (error), misleading or confusing alteration in data or observation, commonly in experimental science, resulting from flaws in technique or equipment ** Compression artifact, a ...
s from the nearby
Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
,
Stabiae Stabiae () was an ancient city situated near the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia and approximately 4.5 km southwest of Pompeii. Like Pompeii, and being only from Mount Vesuvius, this seaside resort was largely buried by tephra ash ...
and
Herculaneum Herculaneum (; Neapolitan and it, Ercolano) was an ancient town, located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Like the nea ...
sites. From 1816 to 1861, it was known as Real Museo Borbonico ("the Royal Bourbon Museum").


Building

The building was built as a cavalry barracks in 1585. From 1616 to 1777 it was the seat of the University of Naples. During the 19th century, after it became a museum, it suffered many changes to the main structure.


Collections

The museum hosts extensive collections of Greek and Roman antiquities. Their core is from the Farnese Collection, which includes a collection of engraved gems (including the Farnese Cup, a
Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...
bowl made of sardonyx agate and the most famous piece in the "Treasure of the Magnificent", and is founded upon gems collected by
Cosimo de' Medici Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who established the Medici family as effective rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. His power derived from his wealth ...
and
Lorenzo il Magnifico Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...
in the 15th century) and the Farnese Marbles. Among the notable works found in the museum are the Herculaneum papyri, carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, found after 1752 in Villa of the Papyri.


Marbles

The greater part of the museum's classical sculpture collection largely comes from the Farnese Marbles, important since they include Roman copies of classical Greek sculpture, which are in many cases the only surviving indications of what the lost works by ancient Greek sculptors such as Calamis, Kritios and Nesiotes looked like. Many of these works, especially the larger ones, have been moved to the Museo di Capodimonte for display in recent years. * The '' Farnese Hercules'', which fixed the image of Hercules in the European imagination. * The '' Farnese Atlas'' is the oldest extant depiction of Atlas from Greek mythology, and the oldest view of the Western constellations, possibly based upon the star catalog of Hipparchus * The '' Farnese Bull'', widely considered the largest single sculpture ever recovered from
antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
. *The group '' Harmodius and Aristogeiton'', a Roman copy of a bronze work that once stood in the
Agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
of Athens *The ''
Aphrodite Kallipygos The ''Venus Callipyge'', also known as the ''Aphrodite Kallipygos'' ( el, Ἀφροδίτη Καλλίπυγος) or the ''Callipygian Venus'', all literally meaning "Venus (or Aphrodite) of the beautiful buttocks", is an Ancient Roman marble stat ...
'' *The ''
Farnese Artemis Farnese may refer to: People * House of Farnese, Italian dynasty ** Ranuccio Farnese (1390–1450) ** Pope Paul III, born Alessandro Farnese (1468–1549) ** Alessandro Farnese, Cardinal (1520–1589) ** Giulia Farnese (1474–1524), mistress of ...
'', again a Roman copy of a Greek original *a collection of busts of Roman emperors *another set of Roman sculptures (again mainly copies of Greek work) that (like the Hercules) once stood in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.


Bronzes from the Villa of the Papyri

A major collection of ancient Roman bronzes from the Villa of the Papyri is housed at the museum. These include the ''
Seated Hermes The bronze ''Seated Hermes'', found at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum in 1758, is at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. "This statue was probably the most celebrated work of art discovered at Herculaneum and Pompeii in the eig ...
'', a sprawling ''Drunken Satyr'', a bust of ''
Thespis Thespis (; grc-gre, Θέσπις; fl. 6th century BC) was an Ancient Greek poet. He was born in the ancient city of Icarius (present-day Dionysos, Greece). According to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was the first pe ...
'', another variously identified as Seneca or
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, and a pair of exceptionally lively runners.


Mosaics

The museum's Mosaic Collection includes a number of important mosaics recovered from the ruins of
Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
and the other Vesuvian cities. This includes the Alexander Mosaic, dating from circa 100 BC, originally from the
House of the Faun The House of the Faun ( it, Casa del Fauno), constructed in the 2nd century BC during the Samnite period (180 BC), was a grand Hellenistic palace that was framed by peristyle in Pompeii, Italy. The historical significance in this impressive esta ...
in Pompeii. It depicts a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. Another mosaic found is that of the gladiatorial fighter depicted in a mosaic found from the Villa of the Figured Capitals in Pompeii.


Egyptian Collection

With 2,500 objects, the museum has one of the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in Italy after the Turin, Florence and Bologna ones. It is made up primarily of works from two private collections, assembled by Cardinal Stefano Borgia in the second half of the 18th century, and Picchianti in the first years of the 19th. In the recent rearrangement of the galleries the two nuclei have been exhibited separately, while in the connecting room other items are on display, including Egyptian and "pseudo-Egyptian" artefacts from Pompeii and other Campanian sites. In its new layout the collection provides both an important record of Egyptian civilization from the Old Kingdom (2700-2200 B.C.) up to the Ptolemaic-Roman era.Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli


Secret Cabinet

The '' Secret Cabinet'' (''Gabinetto Segreto'') (Gabbinete) or ''Secret Room'' is the name the Bourbon Monarchy gave the private rooms in which they held their fairly extensive collection of erotic or sexual items, mostly deriving from excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Access was limited to only persons of ''mature age and known morals''. The rooms were also called ''Cabinets of matters reserved'' or ''obscene'' or ''pornographic''. After the revolution of 1848, the government of the monarchy even proposed the destruction of objects, fearful of the implications of their ownership, which would tarnish the monarchy with lasciviousness. The then director of the Royal Bourbon Museum instead had access to the collection terminated, and the entrance door was provided with three different locks, whose keys were held respectively by the Director of the Museum, the Museum Controller, and the Palace Butler. The highlight of the censorship occurred in 1851 when even nude Venus statues were locked up, and the entrance walled up in the hope that the collection would vanish from memory. In September 1860, when the forces of Garibaldi occupied Naples, he ordered that the collection be made available for the general public to view. Since the Royal Butler was no longer available, they broke into the collection. Limiting viewership and censorship have always been part of the history of the collection. Censorship was restored during the era of the Kingdom of Italy, and peaked during the Fascist period, when visitors to the rooms needed the permission of the Minister of National Education in Rome. Censorship persisted in the postwar period up to 1967, abating only after 1971 when the Ministry was given the new rules to regulate requests for visits and access to the section. Completely rebuilt a few years ago with all of the new criteria, the collection was finally opened to the public in April 2000. Visitors under the age of 14 can tour the exhibit only with an adult. * The Placentarius, the small bronze statue represents a distinctly
ithyphallic A phallus is a penis (especially when Erection, erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimesis, mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically— ...
old nude man who, on the palm of his hand, holds a little silver tray.


Gallery

File:Fish Catalogue mosaic , Naples National Archaeological Museum.jpg, Fish Catalogue mosaic File:Fish ducks MAN Napoli Inv109371.jpg, Fish and ducks, Roman mosaic File:Achilles Agamemnon MAN Napoli Inv10006.jpg, Achilles and Agamemnon, scene from Book I of the ''Iliad'', Roman mosaic File:Cave canem MAN Napoli Inv110666.jpg, ‘Cave canem’ (beware of the dog) mosaic File:Achilles Briseis MAN Napoli Inv9105 n01.jpg, Achilles' surrender of
Briseis Briseis (; grc, Βρῑσηΐς ''Brīsēís'', ) ("daughter of Briseus"), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon t ...
to Agamemnon, from the
House of the Tragic Poet The House of the Tragic Poet (also called ''The Homeric House'' or ''The Iliadic House'') is a Roman house in Pompeii, Italy dating to the 2nd century BCE. The house is famous for its elaborate mosaic floors and frescoes depicting scenes from ...
in
Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
, fresco, 1st century AD Image:Atlas (Farnese Globe).jpg, Farnese Atlas


References


External links

* {{Authority control Museums in Naples Art museums and galleries in Campania Archaeological museums in Italy National museums of Italy Museums of ancient Rome in Italy Museums of ancient Greece in Italy 1750s establishments in Italy