Artifacts And Antiquities: Delving Into Naples Archaeological Museum

For one amazing afternoon in May, I crept through through the storage deposits of one of the world’s greatest museums of classical antiquity Museo Nazionale Archeologico Napoli (MANN). I was invited to the off-limits rooftop where MANN keeps just a fraction of its more-than 400,000 artefacts from the excavations of Pompeii, Herculaneum and other Campania region sites. After narrowly escaping aggressive nesting seagulls, I meandered through the cramped attic where room after tiny room lined with shelves stacked with ancient pottery, metal objects and glass. It is a hoarder’s haven of Roman antiquities and it’s a reminder that MANN is not your ordinary dusty old museum.

With its frescoed ceilings, monumental staircase, luminous rooms and unbeatable collection, the gorgeous 19th century palace is the mecca for archeo-lovers, Roman history buffs and wannabe Indiana Jones. And ever since its 1777 founding, MANN has been the final destination for all things ancient in the Greco-Roman world.

The attic, fondly known as Sing Sing by the museum team for its cell-like vibe, hints at MANN’s origin story. Built on the site of calvary barracks, the 18th century palace was renovated to showcase the extensive finds from Pompeii and Herculaneum for the ruling Bourbon family. Over the following two centuries, excavations revealed more than just Pompeii, the collection expanded and the palace was transformed into Italy’s premiere museum for classical antiquity.

“See Naples and Die”, wrote Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, but I’d changed it up to “see Naples’ MANN and Keep Coming Back”. This museum is a world of worlds. Here’s where you’ll find colossal statues of emperors, patricians and athletes, monumental crateri and marvelous mosaic floors from Magna Graecia, an awesome Egyptian collection, the naughty gabinetto segreto (a collection of 250 sex-themed paintings and objects), the newly opened Campania Romana wing (2000 square meters and 240 objects to the Campania region during the Roman empire) and the limitless artifacts from Vesuvian sites Pompeii and Herculaneum.

“For the world, the museum represents one of the most important museums of classical archaeology,” tells MANN Director Paolo Giulierini. “This museum represents not only a classical museum, but a square where the people arrive, can speak, can reflect not only about the past, but about the present by comparing the past with the present.”

Throughout the year, MANN hosts temporary exhibitions that make you rethink antiquity. In this year alone, I’ve traveled to Byzantium, spied some contemporary street art inspired by mythological goddesses and celebrated Picasso’s birthday. The smaller exhibitions are smattered through the halls, overlapping with the permanent collections while the Salone della Meridiana, a grand hall of 55 meters in length and 20 meters in height, with a gorgeous frescoed ceiling gets the blockbusters like this year’s Alexander the Great and the East: Discoveries and Wonders (now through August 28).

There is no doubt that Alexander inspired generations, but Alexander the Great and the East flips the perspective, bringing us along with Alexander and his army to the travels from Macedonia to India. With more than 170 works from ancient Persia to Gandhara including a Macedonian helmet found in modern-day Iraq, finely detailed gold and silver cups, jewellery and coins, and beautiful marble sculpture, the exhibition celebrates cross-cultural exchange influenced an empire.

The only thing missing from the show is the MANN’s famed Alexander Mosaic, a five-metre wide mosaic found in Pompeii’s House of the Fawn. The massive and massively detailed mosaic depicting Alexander meeting King Darius III has always been a big draw to the museum and has been hanging in MANN for more than a century. But the pressure of its weight (something that was never intended) has caused archaeologists to push for restoration and a new display solution.

For the time being, the Alexander mosaic is off the wall and will undergo an extensive restoration. Though Alexander and his two million tesseare will be unavailable for the next few years, MANN plans on setting up a live-stream camera for a behind-the-scenes peek at the restoration.