Museo Nazionale
September 28, 2006
I hit the National Museum of Archeology yesterday ...
This was really a cool visit. The previous time that I was in Naples, in 2000, I sort of swept through the museum in just a couple of minutes. I was really short on time and I left without having seen everything that I wanted to see.
The museum is really divided into two major collections. The first one consists of Roman statuary from the Farnese collection. (See my previous entry on Capodimonte.) The second one consists of items removed from the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum.
The Farnese pieces are just ... spectacular.
Photos of the so-called Farnese Bull below.
This colossal sculpture was a sensation even during Roman times. Pliny the Elder says that it was created in Rhodes at the end of the 2nd century, B.C., and was brought to Rome for display on the estate of a certain Asinius Pollio, who was a collector of Hellenistic statuary. It was rediscovered in the 16th century during excavations of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.
The thing is huge ...
Another item on display at the museum is the Farnese Hercules.
Here are some photos.
I'm not sure that pictures do it justice. In life, it is gigantic ... almost overwhelming. I think that this piece is a copy of a smaller bronze sculpture by Lysippus. The crumpled garment under his arm is a lion skin and he is leaning on a club.
Elsewhere in the museum were mosaics and wall-paintings from Pompeii ...
... and an exhibition of Roman silver, some pieces of which were just beautiful ...
... and lots of funerary sculpture ...
I could just go on and on and on ... Elsewhere in the museum were Roman glass, a collection of amazing cameo miniatures and Roman gems, tons of tons of stuff from Pompeii -- including ancient dentistry tools, ouch -- and everything else that you can imagine.
One disappointment:
The section of the museum on ancient Ischia was closed for renovation. So, no Nestor's Cup. But, overall, this was a nice was to spend some hours on a lazy, rainy Wednesday here in Naples. Today, on the other hand, the weather is beautiful, so I'd better get on train and sail down the coast a bit and then, maybe, go to the beach.