Paestum: an exhibition dedicated to the Tomb of the Diver

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Tomb of the Diver, the most famous tomb of Magna Graecia, the National Archaeological Museum in Paestum will host the exhibition "The Invisible Image. The Tomb of the Diver ," from June 3 to October 7, 2018. Discovered in 1968, the Tomb has always been at the center of a highly controversial and heated scientific debate regarding the interpretation of the image of the young man diving into the water: is it simply a hedonistic vision of life and death? Or something more, perhaps a mystery message, inspired by initiatory cults related to Orpheus and Dionysus? Is it possible to read and understand an image that is “invisible,” as it is placed inside a dark tomb, closed for eternity?
Unfortunately, the exhibition, or rather anti-exhibition as it has been called by its organizers, will not give an answer to these questions, but will pose others by putting visitors in a position to participate in the debate and grasp the reasons for it.

The exhibition follows the archaeological discoveries that have marked research on ancient mystery cults since the 18th century. On display are some of the most resounding discoveries on the subject in Magna Graecia, such as the gold laminettes with “Orphic” texts from Thurii and Vibo Valentia, the tomb of the dancers from Ruvo, preserved at the Archaeological Museum of Naples, or the funerary vases with depictions of Orpheus from Matera, Paestum and Naples. From eighteenth-century hedonistic visions of the world of Bacchus we move on to the chaste yet sensual dancers of Canova to the highly ambiguous twentieth-century visions of Corrado Cagli and De Chirico.

The exhibition will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (the first and third Mondays of the month can be visited from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.40, with afternoon closure affecting only the museum while the archaeological area respects the ordinary hours) and, for the occasion, from October 4 to 6 in the museum will be held the International Conference entitled “The Tomb of the Diver: ritual, art and poetry in Paestum and the Mediterranean around 500 BC.”
Ticket price: full price € 9.50, reduced € 4.25. Free for those under 18. Admission to the exhibition is included in the PaestumMia subscription. For all information you can call +39 0828 81 10 23, visit www.museopaestum.beniculturali.it or send an email to pae@beniculturali.it.

Paestum: an exhibition dedicated to the Tomb of the Diver

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