Among the world’s top museums of ancient art, Naples’ Archaeological Museum overwhelms with its wealth of beautiful and priceless objects. The building was built in the 16th century as headquarters for the royal cavalry and later turned into a museum to house the Farnese Collection and the finds that were brought to light at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Now the Farnese Collection is broken up, with the paintings at Capodimonte and the books in the National Library, leaving this museum to focus on its ancient marvels.
NEED TO KNOW
Piazza Museo 19 • 081 442 21 49 • cir.campania.beniculturali.it • DA (partial) • Open 9am–7:30pm Wed–Mon (ticket office closes 6:30pm) • Adm €10Il Gabinetto Segreto • open for tours 9:30am–7:30pm Wed–Mon- Head for Piazza Bellini and sit outside Caffè Arabo to gaze at the excavated Greek walls in the centre of the piazza.
- Make an appointment to tour Il Gabinetto Segreto at the entrance to the museum. You will be given a time and a choice of languages.
- At certain times, sections may close due to ongoing excavations.
1.Pottery and Metal Vessels
Pottery here includes Greek and Etruscan kraters, Roman terracotta jars, vases and figurines. Grecian urns, with red figures on black back-grounds, depict a variety of scenes.
A beautiful grecian urn at the museum
2.Marble Sculpture
Replicas of some of the most renowned ancient Classical sculptures are housed here by artists such as Phidias, Lysippus, Praxiteles and Polyclitus. Also of great importance are the striking Greek and Roman busts.
3.Il Gabinetto Segreto
This collection showcases erotic art from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The exuberant sexuality of the ancient world inspired the frescoes, sculptures and mosaics on display.
4.Mosaics
Romans loved mosaics on both floors and walls. Small chips of coloured glass and stone (tesserae) were used to create scenes of every genre.
An impressive mosaic
5.Glass and Stone Vessels
Masters at producing coloured and transparent glassware, the Romans carried these techniques to artistic heights. Highlights of the collection include the celebrated Farnese Cup, engraved in semiprecious stone with layers of agate and sard-onyx, and the blue vase. Used as a wine vessel, the vase was found in a Pompeii tomb.
6.Friezes, Frescoes and Murals
These Roman works were excavated from Pompeii and disclose a great deal about the society and religion of the time.
Beautiful Roman works excavated from Pompeii
7.Weapons, Jewellery, and Domestic Items
Shields, helmets and swords remind us that the ancient world was one of combat, but metalsmiths also made adornments such as armlets. Domestic items include lamps and cups.
A vintage helmet displayed at the museum
8.Egyptian and Prehistoric Items
This collection contains art from the Ancient Kingdom (2700–2200 BC) to the Roman age. Funereal sarcophagi and mummies can be seen here.
9.Incised Gems, Coins and Epigraphs
The collection of incised gems contains Greek and Roman pieces; bronze, silver and gold coins, including some from Magna Graecia. Ancient written records include the Tavole di Eraclea (3rd century BC).
An incised coin from the collection at the museum
10.Bronze Sculpture
This collection is a true treasure-trove of bronze masterpieces. The works include a Resting Hermes, Fauns, Water- Bearers and a host of statues and busts.
BUILDING THE COLLECTION
The Farnese Collection, inherited by King Ferdinando IV from his mother in the 18th century, forms the core of the museum, including one of the most important and largest groups of Roman antiquities in existence. Excavations around Vesuvius added to the bounty. In the past 200 years the inventory of world-class treasures has been augmented by many important aristocratic collections, including the Bourbon, Borgia, Orsini, Picchianti and Astarita collections.
Individual Masterpieces
1.Farnese Hercules
Created and signed by Glykon of Athens, this powerful marble sculpture is a copy and enlargement of a lost bronze original by the 4th-century BC Greek master Lysippus. It was also found in the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, where it is thought that it served as magnificent decoration for the imperial pleasure-dome. The work shows the mythical hero at rest, exhausted after having completed his round of 12 super-human tasks. Ground floor.
2.Farnese Bull
Found in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome during excavations, this is the largest sculptural group to have survived from antiquity to date. One of the best-known pieces in the Farnese Collection, it recounts the story of Dirce (the first wife of Lykos, King of Thebes, who ill-treated Antiope and is being punished by the latter’s sons by being tied to a bull. It is probably a copy – though some claim it may be the original – of a 2nd-century BC Greek work and is Hellenistic in its execution. Ground floor.
Farnese Bull sculpture
3.Alexander the Great Mosaic
Found as a floor decoration in Pompeii’s Casa del Fauno, a grand aristocratic mansion of the 2nd century BC, this Hellenistic mosaic is certainly one of the most elegant and exciting to have survived. The subject is the routing of Darius’s Persian armies by Alexander the Great’s cavalry. The monumentality of the work is impressive and it is almost certainly a copy of a lost painting of great importance, possibly by Philoxeno. Fragmentary as it is, there are still some one million tesserae (tiles) in its composition. Mezzanine.
Alexander the Great mosaic
4.Dancing Faun
A more joyous image of freedom and exuberant health would be hard to imagine. This bronze was found in Pompeii’s Casa del Fauno, to which it gives its name, as a decoration in the atrium to greet arriving guests. Two ancient replicas are known of this Hellenistic figure, so it must have been a popular and inspiring object. Mezzanine.
5.Hermes at Rest
Were it not for the wings on his feet, one might suppose that this very boyish Hermes (Mercury) was just a young athlete taking a break from his exertions rather than a god. The proportions of this sculpture were inspired by the work of Lysippus. First floor.
6.Sleeping and Drunken Satyrs
Satyrs to the ancients were always a symbol of pure hedonism – not just sexual licence, but every form of ease and indulgence. These two figures, from the Villa dei Papiri, express a light-hearted indolence that is as implicitly erotic as it is earthy. The ancients believed that physical pleasure and delight were part of man’s divine essence and gifts from the gods. First floor.
7.The Doryphoros
This is the most complete replica of the celebrated bronze original, created in about 440 BC by Polyclitus of Argos. The name means “spear-bearer” and one can see that the figure once held a spear in his left hand. It is thought to represent Achilles, and the statue was known in ancient times as the Canon, exhibiting perfect proportions in every aspect of its depiction of the human form. The sculptor developed a complex theory of measurements, related to music, for the ideal construction of the human body. Ground floor (sometimes on loan to other museums).
8.Farnese Cup
The star of the museum’s cameo and incised gem collection is this glistening masterpiece, carved from a single piece of stone, specifically chosen by the artist for its layering of agate and sardonyx. The outer face of the cup has an image of Medusa; inside is an allegorical scene that probably alludes to the fertility of the Nile. The cup was produced in Egypt in the 2nd or 1st century BC. Ground floor.
Prized exhibit, Farnese Cup
9.Sacrifice of Iphigenia
Found in Pompeii, in the so-called House of the Tragic Poet, this famous painting shows the dramatic moment when the sacrifice of Iphigenia is halted by the inter-vention of Artemis (Diana), who kills a deer instead. The fresco was once considered a faithful copy of a painting by the Greek artist Timante, but it is now thought to be an original Roman depiction – due primarily to its overall lack of compositional unity. First floor (can sometimes be out on loan to other museums).
Famous fresco, Sacrifice of Iphigenia
10.Achilles and Chiron
Retrieved from the so-called Basilica in Herculaneum, this fresco depicts the young hero of the Trojan War with his mentor, the centaur Chiron. Since this large work was decoration for a public building, the message is clear – heed the elemental forces of Nature (symbolized by the centaur) to find balance and fulfilment in life. The image is based on a famous sculptural group, probably Greek, now lost but known to have stood in ancient Rome, as recorded by Pliny the Elder. First floor.