Naples, at MANN, finds from the repositories go on display

From the furnishings of Vesuvian cities to gladiator weapons, from textiles to gold, with a focus on edibles: these are some of the artifacts featured in the exhibition L’altro MANN. Deposits on display, curated by museum archaeologists Laura Forte and Marialucia Giacco. The exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, which opened on Monday, May 30, in the Frescoes Rooms, will expand by the end of September 2022 to include Pompeii’s Plastico. Ä– an exhibition-in-progress that, based on the incessant work of “excavation” and study in the immense deposits of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, is a prelude to the doubling of the Pompeian collections presented to the public. With a curiosity: so many treasures, now kept in the deposits, have represented real cults for scientific literature since the moment of their discovery during excavations in the Vesuvian cities.

The finds

The exhibition is introduced by a number of finds, rarely exhibited in the past and presented today on a large circular platform: a volute crater with bacchic procession in marble (from Villa San Marco in Stabiae, first half of the 1st cent. AD), a bronze, iron and wooden safe with cupids and Dionysian figures (from Pompeii, House of Gaius Vibius Italus, 1st cent. A.D.), a folding table with small satyrs (Vesuvian area, 1st century A.D.), a stool with masks and plant motifs (from Pompeii, House of Romulus and Remus, 1st century A.D.), a highly original wall-mounted water heater (from Pompeii, 1st century A.D.), some candlesticks (from Herculaneum and Pompeii, 1st century A.D.). In the rooms in which this first part of the tour itinerary unfolds, it is possible to admire other treasures that tell of the life of the Vesuvian cities and the beauty of the ancient domus. The exhibition focuses on the exterior rooms of the houses, showing their rich decorative apparatus: the bronze fountain mouths with fisherman and Cupid and goose (from Pompeii, House of the Small Fountain, 1st century AD), with satyr holding a wineskin (from Pompeii, House of the Centenary, 1st century AD.) and with Cupid and dolphin (from Pompeii, 1st cent. AD); the marble fountain decoration with Nymph (from Pompeii, 1st cent. AD); and the marble oscils (hanging reliefs, from Pompeii, 1st cent. AD) with depictions of a dancing maenad before an altar, a winged Victory and Hercules with the cerinite doe. The lush greenery of houses in the settlements on the slopes of the volcano is also evidenced by three frescoes with garden scenes (from Herculaneum and Pompeii, early 1st cent. AD).

Curiosities

There are many curiosities that visitors trace in the display, signed by architect Andrea Mandara with Claudia Pescatori and created with graphics by Francesca Pavese: for example, those who do not know what a pelvis (an ablution basin) is, can learn that the citizens of the Vesuvian area decorated these furnishings, as shown by a bronze applique with a scene of a female toilet. And, again, fans of iconography dedicated to the goddess of beauty should not miss, in the exhibition, the sensual marble sculpture of Venus Anadiomene, emerging from the waters (from Pompeii, House of Camillus, 1st century AD).

Finally, a comeback: the exhibition includes a section devoted to the world of Gladiators; thus, it proceeds on the path of “musealization” of the collection presented to the public for the first time in decades during the exhibition scheduled at the Museum until last April. On display are not only the weapons that distinguished the different types of gladiators (the artifacts have come to light in Pompeii since 1766), but also other unique documents, preserved in the Archaeological Archives, such as the tempera paintings by Francesco Morelli.

The “The Other MANN” itinerary is rooted in the projects that, for years, the museum management has been devoting to the heritage of the deposits: if the reorganization of Sing Sing, which holds thousands of artifacts in the attics of the Archaeological Museum is prodromal to the usability (contingent and supervised) by visitors, work is also being done on the area of the Cavaiole, where stone materials are stored. In collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Delft and the Dutch Ministry of Culture, a master plan to plan the transformation of this area of the repositories into an area visible to the public is at the starting line. Again, thanks to an agreement with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, a “purse” and a gold thread ribbon have been restored and will be displayed as a preview in September with the expansion of the L’altro MANN exhibition in the Plastico di Pompei hall.This initial experimentation will be followed by the restoration of an additional group of about 20 textile artifacts, in gold thread and otherwise. Warehouses are places of study: in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, a strand of research is being developed reserved for faculty, students and trainees to discover and protect the treasures of the Spinelli collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, a collection that brings together ancient artifacts from the necropolis of Suessula, in the Acerra area. From investigation to popularization: on June 9 andJuly 7, during Thursday evening openings, guided tours of the exhibition The Other MANN.

“The Other MANN” is not just a showcase of wonders, mostly from Vesuvius, never or little seen, often around the world, kept in the Archaeological Museum’s now famous storerooms, from the Cavaiole to Sing Sing. The Other MANN is, in fact, also an extraordinary sampling of the ’remaining’ part of our museum heritage, which we want to be increasingly enhanced and shared not only through exhibition but also with scientific research, the contribution of digital and, therefore, the creation of large open databases.It is different from what we are used to finding in the Museum: not a collection, nor a simple exhibition. It is above all a project to be shared with our visitors and the whole community. The work on the repositories in recent years has been relentless and continues, starting with reorganization and making them safe, including earthquake-proofing. Our goal is the widest possible public use, with the final idea of expanding the same repositories to other places in the city," comments MANN Director Paolo Giulierini.

Naples, at MANN, finds from the repositories go on display

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.