National Archaeological Museum, Naples

 This was one of the highlights of my trip. I suppose its just that I love classical antiquities, especially sculpture. This museum has much of the best looted from Pompeii, plus the Farnese collection, which is much of the best dug up in Rome and then tampered with by late renaissance sculptors to make up bits that were missing, frequently sticking together random heads and bodies.

Now one thing that occurred to me when perusing these galleries was how much better the sculpture is than the painting. Why were the Greeks (one assumes) and the Romans (who copied them) so much better more proficient in what to my mind must be the more difficult art. Two thoughts canme to me. One is simply that the paintings are frescoes and by nature you need to work quickly before it dries.

But less prosaically, maybe working in 3D is easier conceptually to get right than in 2D, until you get it all right, ie learn the rules of perspective.

This famous fertility statue was thought to show a multi-breasted deity, but now they think that the appendages are in fact meant to represent bull's testicles.

 The famous Farnese Hercules. A big boy.

 

 And this is an equally famous statue, the Farnese Bull, the largest sculpture ever found from classical antiquity. It came from the Baths of Caracalla and depicts Dirce being tied to a bull (interesting punishment). Its believed it once stood in a pool of water and acted as a fountain.

Its had a fair bit of restoration done to it since being found and purloined by Cardinal Farnese for his palace(s). Like most catholic bishops he had a penchant for lavish decoration and naked bodies.

 Now onto the mosaics, mostly from Pompeii.

Mosaic columns - first I have seen

Hmm, quite why would one want a skeleton on your floor?

This comes from the House of the Dancing Faun. Apparently it would have had over a million tessarae. A true tour de force, and no doubt very expensive to have created at the time. It depicts Alexander's victory over Darius.

Interesting that an annoying guided tour group were whisked through the mosaics at a pace in order to dwell in the Secret Cabinet", the collection of erotic finds that were considered too risque for ordinary folk to see. Of course they don't seem so erotic to us now, and most of the oversize members just look comic.

 Possibly the most graphic of the contents....

And yes your eyes do not deceive you, a pile of terracotta genitalia.

This splendid picture gallery was blighted by sticking some large modern canvases in the middle - just rubbish scribbling masquerading as art.

The Farnese Atlas

 Then onto the Pompeiian frescoes. A lot of these.

Mmm, naked chap with a snake. Adam and the Garden of Eden? No, different culture and religion. honestly you would think all these cults copied from each other wouldn't you?

 There is also an extensive collection of pottery, glass, silver and bronze, but this doesn't photograph easily, so this isn't representative in terms of size. This cameo glass is similar to the Portland Vase in the British Museum. A terrific bit of workmanship.

And finally maybe the highlight of the collection, the bronze statues from the House of the Papyri at Herculaneum. Beautiful in their own right and also amazing because so few bronzes have survived. Bronze, unlike marble, can be melted down for further use by philistines. Many bronzes we do have were recovered from shipwrecks and so not in perfect condition - unlike these ones.