Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Naples Archaeological Museum: Pompei Frescoes

It was a limited palette, especially as the lapis lazuli blue
had to come from Afghanistan
















Andromeda and Perseus (and Medusa)




















Some of the wall painting had raised relief as well
















Fugitive from the secret chamber















Madonna con bambini...wait, no...















An entire room reconstructed















Sacrifice of Iphigenia (Euripides' version)















Achilles surrendering Briseis; incredible expressiveness















Adulation of Theseus




















Long thought to be a representation of
Vesuvius; note snake




















Writer; stylized Sappho















Baker and wife















Reader















Depiction of riot in Pompei amphitheater, c. 59















Satirical figures; or perhaps hobbits















Landscape

Naples Archaeological Museum: Pompei Mosaics And Other Items

The Naples Archaeological Museum's Pompei collections are divided into several sections: mosaics, the "secret chamber" (porno stuff, at least in the eyes of the 18th and 19th century princes, dukes, kings, cardinals, et al.), the Villa of the Papyri, and the frescoes. The frescoes, we thought, are by far the best, porn notwithstanding, and so I will leave them for the next post.
First century Roman mosaic: Durer would have been proud...





















Vicki is buying me one of those double-flutes for Xmas















The Faun, the real one, from the House of the Faun




















The real Alexander mosaic, from the House of the Faun; Darius' troops already 
are beginning to flee...
















One of many portraits in mosaic




















Captain's Plate; micro mosaic: sometimes you have to stand right next to these 
things to see that they are mosaics and not oil paintings

















The secret chamber has a number of fairly explicit sculptures, mosaics, frescoes, 
and other things, porn, at least by 19th century standards; we thought the phallic 
wind-chimes were the only thing of great interest; classical attitudes about sex
were a bit different from today's; in Roman times and places the phallus was a 
symbol of good luck and prosperity, seen everywhere; alas, none were for sale i
n the trinket shoppes outside the museum





















Glass from the huge "everyday objects" collection from Pompei; there were 
also plumbing and illumination and kitchen displays, among many others, 
almost like Home Depot


















In the Villa of the Papyrus section; so-named because some 
1,000 carbonized papyrii were found there; many have been 
unrolled and translated, but, alas, rather than a general
library of the classical world, they are merely the works of 
obscure Epicurean philosophers
























Bronze athletes from the Villa of Papyri



















One of the athletes; bronze Roman copies of Greek originals




















Face of one of several bronze dancers




















Me, in bronze; I swear I was only drinking tonic water

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Naples Archaeological Museum: Farnese Collection

The next day we went into Naples again, to see the National Archaeological Museum there, where the major finds from Pompei and Herculaneum now reside. But we detoured first to its Farnese Collection--the first of several we'll see--which features sculpture and other things from ancient Rome. The Farnese were a powerful Roman family of the Renaissance, aristocratic, papal, etc. They were in power when Caraculla's Baths were being plundered and quarried for stone to build St. Peter's, and the Collection here includes some of the colossal scultpures found, saved, and restored. Give them credit for that.... Anyhow, the Farnese Collections came to the Kings of Naples via royal marriage a couple centuries later.
The National Archaeological Museum, at Naples
















Into the collection, colossal in every way
















Vicki stands for scale





















Artemis, from Ephesus--we have seen her
before





















The Farnese Toros--it's a long mythological story, but 
this is the largest sculpture from one piece of marble 
known; pieced back together by no less than 
Michaelangelo and others (another long story)
























Hercules at Rest; sort of a Farnese emblem, the tallest marble 
sculpture...




















First century copy of a 50 BC bust of Julius
Caesar




















Two-fer department--busts of Herodotus and Thucydides















Socrates, Roman copy of a nearly contemporary Greek 
original




















Great Hall of the Palace




















The Farnese Cup--cameo on one piece of stone...



















A Day In Pompeii,II

OK, it was a long day.
In the Fullonicus of Stephanus--the fuller, where wool was cared for, sort of a dry 
cleaners, only not very dry--the principal cleaning agent was urine; here's the big 
tank where slaves tromped around on soiled togas


















And the last two of the cascading rinsing tanks; drying was up on the roof

















Pompeii has a number of surviving bill boards--messages painted onto walls--
advertising items for sale, election candidates, upcoming gladitorial contests 
and other shows

















Pompeii had dozens of eateries; pictured is a counter with built-in bowls for 
foods, wines; in this particular establishment, you could eat around the 
counter or in some of the back rooms; this place may also have had a triclinium
a room with three couches for reclining, that could be rented



















Up closer of the eatery fresco; note snakes















All kinds of efforts to hold things up, preserve, restore















Not always effective















Larger frescoes at the House of Venus in the Conch Shell
















Ditto




















Ditto again















Really nice water feature, same place, which was nearly
large enough to be a villa
















Vineyard near the anfiteatro; planted again with grapes of the same variety as 
grown in 79
















These were discovered using the plaster-cast method in root- and stake-holes; 
same as for human and animal forms; and the grape variety thus identified; the 
grapes are now grown and made into wine using the ancient methods and
sold under the label Villa dei Misteri; we looked all over for a bottle, finally 
finding a 2002 in Sorrento...for 111 euros!



















Inside the sizeable and very well preserved/restored amphitheater, mostly the site 
of gladiatorial "games"
















Inside the large (Greek) theater















And the small theater















Temple to Isis--by the first century, Romans were getting into the assorted "mystery" 
religions of the east, those that provided a caring god who promised eternal 
salvation--this temple was financed by a six-year-old (whose family was thus 
ensuring his political future; sic transit, Gloria)



















The Samnite Palestra; the Samnites were a powerful central Italian tribe, major 
rivals to the Romans; they held Pompeii from the 4th and 3rd centuries, 
succeeded by the Romans

















Back near the Porta Marina entrance, remains of the Temple of Venus, perhaps the 
oldest structure in Pompeii
















And, lastly, Vesuvius, from Pompeii's Forum; continue the ridge lines right and 
left and you can appreciate the size of the mountain--and the scale of the 
catastrophe--in 79