t Visitors admiring the Farnese Hercules and other Classical sculptures in the collection
Among the world’s top museums of ancient art, Naples’ Archaeological Museum overwhelms with its wealth of beautiful and priceless objects. Many of the treasures on display were excavated from Pompeii and Herculaneum.
The fine collection of Greco-Roman sculpture consists mostly of works found in excavations around Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, as well as the treasures from the Farnese Collection (King Ferdinando IV’s Roman antiquities, inherited from his grandmother Elizabeth Farnese). The sculptures – most of which are the only existing Roman copies of lost Greek originals – are displayed on the ground floor. Among the numerous fine works are the Farnese Hercules, an enlarged Roman copy of a sculpture by the Greek master Lysippus, and the Farnese Bull, the largest sculptural group to have survived from antiquity (c.200 BC).
Most of the frescoes in the collection were removed from buildings in cities buried by the eruptions of Vesuvius, and assembled here from the mid-1700s onwards. The most important of these came from the Basilica in Herculaneum. Others were taken from the Villa di Fannio Sinistore at Boscoreale and from the extensive landed property of Julia Felix in Pompeii. The frieze from her house, with a still life of apples and grapes and scenes from the forum, gives a fascinating glimpse of everyday life in a 1st-century-AD city.
The majority of the mosaics on display in the museum come from Pompeii, Stabiae, Herculaneum and Boscoreale and date from the 2nd century BC to AD 79. The realistic images, such as the female portraits from Pompeii, are particularly fascinating. Among the highlights is a depiction of the Battle of Alexander, found at Pompeii. This large, detailed mosaic was based on a Hellenistic painting and depicts Alexander the Great leading his cavalry against Darius III.
The museum is home to many valuable works of Egyptian art from the Ancient Kingdom (2700–2200 BC) to the Roman age. As well as human and animal mummies, the Egyptian section includes Canopic vases and containers for the internal organs of the deceased. The collection of shabti comprises wood, stone and faïence statuettes representing workers for the deceased in the afterlife.
t Visitors admiring the Farnese Hercules and other Classical sculptures in the collection
Experience Naples
t Mosaic found at Pompeii depicting the Battle of Alexander
Experience Naples
Timeline |
1500sThe structure that will house the museum is built as the home of the royal cavalry. |
1616The building is adapted and becomes the seat of Naples university. |
1738Excavations of Vesuvian towns begin. King Charles III collects finds. |
1860The collection becomes public property and known as the Museo Nazionale. |
1957Museo Archeo logico Nazionale is renamed after the picture collection moves. |
1980An earthquake causes serious damage to many of the exhibits. |
The Farnese Collection and sculpture from Herculaneum, Pompeii and other Vesuvian cities can be seen on the ground floor, the mezzanine level and the first floor. Mosaics, on the mezzanine level, and domestic items, weapons and murals, on the first floor, show daily life in the ancient cities. A lower-ground- floor level houses the Egyptian Collection. The arrangement aims to display the exhibits in context.