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The National Archaeological Museum of
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
(, ) is an important Italian archaeological museum. Its collection includes works from
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
,
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
times, and especially Roman artifacts from the nearby
Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
,
Stabiae Stabiae () was an ancient city situated near the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia and approximately 4.5 km (2.79 miles) southwest of Pompeii. Like Pompeii, and being only from Mount Vesuvius, it was largely buried by tephra ash in ...
and
Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...
sites. From 1816 to 1861, it was known as the Royal Bourbon Museum ().


Building

The building was built as a cavalry barracks in 1585. From 1616 to 1777, it was the seat of the
University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...
. During the 19th century, after it became a museum, it suffered many changes to the main structure.


Collections

The museum hosts extensive collections of Greek and Roman antiquities. Their core is from the
Farnese Collection The Farnese Collection is one of the first collections of artistic items from Greco-Roman antiquity. It includes some of the most influential classical works, including the sculptures that were part of the Farnese Marbles, their collection of st ...
, which includes a collection of
engraved gem An engraved gem, frequently referred to as an intaglio, is a small and usually semi-precious gemstone that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major lux ...
s (including the
Farnese Cup The Farnese Cup or Tazza Farnese is a 2nd-century BC cameo hardstone carving bowl or cup made in Hellenistic Egypt of four-layered sardonyx agate. It is at the Naples National Archaeological Museum.Inv. MANN 27611. It is about wide and similar ...
, a
Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty *Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter *Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining t ...
bowl made of sardonyx
agate Agate ( ) is a banded variety of chalcedony. Agate stones are characterized by alternating bands of different colored chalcedony and sometimes include macroscopic quartz. They are common in nature and can be found globally in a large number of d ...
and the most famous piece in the "Treasure of the Magnificent", and is founded upon gems collected by
Cosimo de' Medici Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who established the House of Medici, Medici family as effective rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. His power derive ...
and
Lorenzo il Magnifico Lorenzo may refer to: People * Lorenzo (name) Places Peru * San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo United States * Lorenzo, Illinois * Lorenzo, Texas * San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo * Lorenzo State ...
in the 15th century) and the Farnese Marbles. Among the notable works found in the museum are the Menologium Rusticum and the
Herculaneum papyri The Herculaneum papyri are more than 1,800 papyrus scrolls discovered in the 18th century in the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. They had been Carbonization, carbonized when the villa was engulfed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. ...
, carbonized by the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ) is a Somma volcano, somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuv ...
, found after 1752 in
Villa of the Papyri The Villa of the Papyri (, also known as ''Villa dei Pisoni'' and in early excavation records as the ''Villa Suburbana'') was an ancient Roman Empire, Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named after its un ...
.


Marbles

The greater part of the museum's classical sculpture collection largely comes from the Farnese Marbles, important since they include Roman copies of classical Greek sculpture, which are in many cases the only surviving indications of what the lost works by ancient Greek sculptors such as Calamis,
Kritios Kritios (, ) was an Athenian sculptor, probably a pupil of Antenor, working in the early 5th century BCE, whose manner is on the cusp of the Late Archaic and the Severe style of Early Classicism in Attica. He was the teacher of Myron. With Nesi ...
and
Nesiotes Kritios (, ) was an Athenian sculptor, probably a pupil of Antenor, working in the early 5th century BCE, whose manner is on the cusp of the Late Archaic and the Severe style of Early Classicism in Attica. He was the teacher of Myron. With Nes ...
looked like. Many of these works, especially the larger ones, have been moved to the
Museo di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with se ...
for display in recent years. * The ''
Farnese Hercules The ''Farnese Hercules'' () is an ancient statue of Hercules made in the early third century AD and signed by Glykon, who is otherwise unknown; he was an Athenian but he may have worked in Rome. Like many other Ancient Roman sculptures it is a ...
'', which fixed the image of
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
in the European imagination. * The ''
Farnese Atlas The Farnese Atlas is a 2nd-century CE Ancient Rome, Roman marble sculpture of Atlas (mythology), Atlas holding up a celestial globe. Probably a copy of an earlier work of the Hellenistic period, it is the oldest extant statue of Atlas (mythology) ...
'' is the oldest extant depiction of
Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...
from Greek mythology, and the oldest view of the Western constellations, possibly based upon the
star catalog A star catalogue is an astronomical catalogue that lists stars. In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. There are a great many different star catalogues which have been produced for different purposes over the year ...
of
Hipparchus Hipparchus (; , ;  BC) was a Ancient Greek astronomy, Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician. He is considered the founder of trigonometry, but is most famous for his incidental discovery of the precession of the equinoxes. Hippar ...
* The ''
Farnese Bull The ''Farnese Bull'' (), formerly in the Farnese collection in Rome, is a massive Roman elaborated copy of a Hellenistic sculpture. It is the largest single sculpture yet recovered from antiquity. Along with the rest of the Farnese antiquities ...
'', widely considered the largest single sculpture ever recovered from antiquity. * The group ''
Harmodius and Aristogeiton Harmodius (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἁρμόδιος, ''Harmódios'') and Aristogeiton (Ἀριστογείτων, ''Aristogeíton''; both died 514 BC) were two lovers in Classical Athens who became known as the Tyrannicides (τυραννόκτον ...
'', a Roman copy of a bronze work that once stood in the
Agora The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...
of
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
* The '' Aphrodite Kallipygos'' * The '' Farnese Artemis'', again a Roman copy of a Greek original * A collection of busts of Roman emperors * Another set of Roman sculptures (again mainly copies of Greek work) that (like the Hercules) once stood in the
Baths of Caracalla The Baths of Caracalla () in Rome, Italy, were the city's second largest Ancient Rome, Roman public baths, or ''thermae'', after the Baths of Diocletian. The baths were likely built between AD 212 (or 211) and 216/217, during the reigns of empero ...
in Rome.


Bronzes from the Villa of the Papyri

A major collection of ancient Roman bronzes from the
Villa of the Papyri The Villa of the Papyri (, also known as ''Villa dei Pisoni'' and in early excavation records as the ''Villa Suburbana'') was an ancient Roman Empire, Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named after its un ...
is housed at the museum. These include the ''
Seated Hermes The bronze ''Seated Hermes'', found at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum in 1758, is at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. "This statue was probably the most celebrated work of art discovered at Herculaneum and Pompeii in the eigh ...
'', a sprawling ''Drunken Satyr'', a bust of ''
Thespis Thespis (; ; fl. 6th century BC) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet. He was born in the ancient city of Icarius (present-day Dionysos, Greece). According to certain Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was t ...
'', another variously identified as Seneca or
Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...
, and a pair of exceptionally lively runners.


Mosaics

The museum's Mosaic Collection includes a number of important
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
s recovered from the ruins of
Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
and the other Vesuvian cities. This includes the
Alexander Mosaic The ''Alexander Mosaic,'' also known as the ''Battle of Issus Mosaic'', is a Roman mosaic, Roman floor mosaic originally from the House of the Faun in Pompeii, Italy. It is typically dated between and Anno Domini, BC 100 and depicts a battle be ...
, dating from , originally from the
House of the Faun The House of the Faun (), constructed in the 2nd century BCE during the Samnite period (180 BCE), was a grand Hellenistic residence that was framed by peristyle in Pompeii, Italy. The historical significance in this impressive estate is found in ...
in Pompeii. It depicts a battle between the armies of
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
and Darius III of Persia. Another mosaic found is that of the gladiatorial fighter depicted in a mosaic found from the Villa of the Figured Capitals in Pompeii.


Frescos

The museum houses a large collection of frescoes from
Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
and
Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...
. File:Pompeii — Cimon and Pero.jpg, Cimon and Pero File:Pompeii_—_Dido_abandoned.jpg, Dido abandoned File:Pompeii — Dance of psyches.jpg, Dance of psyches File:Pompeii_—_Symposium_of_Erotes.jpg, Symposium of Erotes File:Pompeii_—_Symposium_of_erotes_—_House_of_Marcus_Lucretius.jpg, Symposium of Erotes File:Pompeii — Mask amid bunches of grapes and vines.jpg, Mask amid bunches of grapes and vines File:Pompeii_—_Polyphemus_and_Galatea.jpg, Polyphemus and Galatea


Egyptian Collection

With 2,500 objects, the museum has one of the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in Italy, smaller only than those in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
,
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
and
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
. It is made up primarily of works from two private collections, assembled by Cardinal Stefano Borgia in the second half of the 18th century, and Picchianti in the first years of the 19th. Since the recent rearrangement of the galleries, these two cores of the collection have been exhibited separately, while other items are on display in the connecting room, including Egyptian and "pseudo-Egyptian" artefacts from Pompeii and other Campanian sites. The collection provides an important record of Egyptian civilization from the
Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynast ...
(2700-2200 B.C.) up to the Ptolemaic-Roman era.


Secret Cabinet

The '' Secret Cabinet'' (''Gabinetto Segreto'') (Gabbinete) or ''Secret Room'' is the name the Bourbon Monarchy gave the private rooms in which they held their fairly extensive collection of erotic or sexual items, mostly deriving from excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Access was limited to only persons of ''mature age and known morals''. The rooms were also called ''Cabinets of matters reserved'' or ''obscene'' or ''pornographic''. After the revolution of 1848, the government of the monarchy even proposed the destruction of objects, fearful of the implications of their ownership, which would tarnish the monarchy with lasciviousness. The then director of the Royal Bourbon Museum instead had access to the collection terminated, and the entrance door was provided with three different locks, whose keys were held respectively by the Director of the Museum, the Museum Controller, and the Palace Butler. The highlight of the censorship occurred in 1851 when even nude Venus statues were locked up, and the entrance walled up in the hope that the collection would vanish from memory. In September 1860, when the forces of
Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...
occupied Naples, he ordered that the collection be made available for the general public to view. Since the Royal Butler was no longer available, they broke into the collection. Limiting viewership and censorship have always been part of the history of the collection. Censorship was restored during the era of the Kingdom of Italy, and peaked during the Fascist period, when visitors to the rooms needed the permission of the Minister of National Education in Rome. Censorship persisted in the postwar period up to 1967, abating only after 1971 when the Ministry was given the new rules to regulate requests for visits and access to the section. Completely rebuilt a few years ago with all of the new criteria, the collection was finally opened to the public in April 2000. Visitors under the age of 14 can tour the exhibit only with an adult. * The Placentarius, the small bronze statue represents a distinctly
ithyphallic A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...
old nude man who, on the palm of his hand, holds a little silver tray.


Gallery

File:Fish Catalogue mosaic , Naples National Archaeological Museum.jpg, Fish Catalogue mosaic File:Fish ducks MAN Napoli Inv109371.jpg, Fish and ducks, Roman mosaic File:Achilles Agamemnon MAN Napoli Inv10006.jpg, Achilles and Agamemnon, scene from Book I of the ''Iliad'', Roman mosaic File:Cave canem MAN Napoli Inv110666.jpg, 'Cave canem' (beware of the dog) mosaic File:Achilles Briseis MAN Napoli Inv9105 n01.jpg,
Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...
' surrender of
Briseis Briseis (; , ), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon that initiates the plot of Homer's epic. She was married to ...
to
Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...
, from the
House of the Tragic Poet The House of the Tragic Poet (also called ''The Homeric House'' or ''The Iliadic House'') is a Roman house in Pompeii, Italy dating to the 2nd century BCE. The house is famous for its elaborate mosaic floors and frescoes depicting scenes from G ...
in
Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
, fresco, 1st century AD File:Atlas (Farnese Globe).jpg,
Farnese Atlas The Farnese Atlas is a 2nd-century CE Ancient Rome, Roman marble sculpture of Atlas (mythology), Atlas holding up a celestial globe. Probably a copy of an earlier work of the Hellenistic period, it is the oldest extant statue of Atlas (mythology) ...
File:CIL VI 2305 - Menologium Rusticum Colotianum 05 Iul-Sep Oct-Dec.jpg , The Menologium Rusticum Colotianum, an ancient Roman
almanac An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasting, weather forecasts, farmers' sowing, planting dates ...
. File:Dionysus-Narcissus from Pompeii.jpg, Dionysus, called Narcissus


See also

*
List of largest art museums Art museums are some of the largest buildings in the world. The world's most pre-eminent museums have also engaged in various expansion projects through the years, expanding their total exhibition space. List The following is a list of art mus ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Museums in Naples Art museums and galleries in Campania Archaeological museums in Italy National museums of Italy Museums of ancient Rome in Italy Museums of ancient Greece in Italy 1750s establishments in Italy Farnese Collection Pompeii (ancient city)