MANN, second phase of the restoration of the Alexander the Great Mosaic begins

On Wednesday, July 3, the second executive phase of the restoration of the Alexander Mosaic will begin at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN). The work, scheduled for completion in early 2025, will include the consolidation of the mosaic’s original preparatory layers and the creation of a new support. The masterpiece, which dates back to the first century B.C. and comes from the House of the Faun in Pompeii, is of extraordinary dimensions: it weighs about seven tons and is composed of nearly two million millimeter-sized tesserae, arranged over an area of 5.82 x 3.13 meters. The work will be moved again to be placed in a horizontal position, thus completing the restoration work on the mosaic surface.

The handling will be carried out by the same mechanical system that, already present in situ, last October made it possible, in a major operation, to detach the mosaic from the wall where it had been placed in 1916. Similar to what happened during the first handling, movements and stresses on the work will of course be monitored in real time. In the last months of work, it has been possible to thoroughly investigate the original preparatory layers of the artifact, verifying its state of preservation and completing the framework of knowledge in our possession to date.

“We are starting a new phase of work to restore the Alexander mosaic: an unprecedented intervention from a scientific point of view, which once again combined the terms of protection and enhancement. Also in the coming months, the transparent construction site will allow the public to follow the intervention, accompanying the path to the new location and usability of the work,” comments MiC Museums General Director Massimo Osanna.

MANN, second phase of the restoration of the Alexander the Great Mosaic begins

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