Art stones in Naples

A. Cavociello - A. Gargiulo- class IIA LS

The National Archaeological Museum in Naples

The museum was founded by Charles III of Spain in 1750s. The museum hosts a big collections of Greek and Roman antiquities, including mosaics and paintings from Pompeii, Stabiae, Herculaneum. It also hosts a big part of the Farnese collection.

The Farnese collection includes some of the most influential classical works that inspired artists of Renaissance such as Michelangelo and Raffaello .These sculptures were all made around the 5th century BC.

The Farnese bull is the mostfamous and massive sculpture inthe collection. The colossalmarble represents the myth ofDirce,the first wife of Lykus.She was tied to a wild bull by thesons of Antiope who wanted topunish her.The sculpture was dated 220A.D.

The Farnese bull

The Doryphoros

The statue is the best copy of Doryphoros of Polyclitus ,thatoriginally was made of bronze. It was carved around 440 AD.

It follows the "contrapposto" a Greek rule of carving which lets the artist to create a sense of realism.

All these mosaics come from Pompeii.

This mosaic represents the battle betweenAlexander the Great and Darius III ofPersia at Issus.Originally mosaics, like these, were usuallyused as floors. The spears in the background are smaller than the ones in the foreground, this expedient creates a sense of depth. The mosaic is a copy of a Greek painting and itmight represent the real face of Alexander The Great.

This picture on the right is a recreation of the mosaic

The Alexander Mosaic

The painting in Pompeii

The paintings hosted in the museum belongto four different styles of Roman painting

The first style was called “structural”, it was most popular from 200 BC until 80 BC, it is characterized by the simulation of marble and the use of vivid colors , both being a sign of wealth.

The second style was called “illusionism” because walls were decorated with architecturalfeatures and trompe l’oeil compositions. It gavethe illusion that the rooms were bigger and onlypastel colours were used.

The third style was called “ornate style”The rooms show more figurative and colorfulldecorations. The paintings represent anythingthe artist wanted. This style is really elegant.The picture on the left is the original takenfrom Villa Arianna which is not far from ourschool in Gragnano.

The fouth style was generally morecomplex than the second one;it was alsothe most expensive and for this reason itwas used to adorne the richest people’s“domus”.