Italy Guide
Campania
The Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Opening time: daily except Tues 9am–7.30pm
Price: €6.50
Naples' Museo Archeologico Nazionale is home to the Farnese collection of antiquities from Lazio and Campania and the best of the finds from the nearby Roman sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. It seems to be under almost constant reorganization, and to be honest the displays are tired and old-fashioned for the most part. But you'd be mad to miss it – it's truly one of the highlights of the city.
The ground floor of the museum has sculpture from the Farnese collection, displayed at its best in the mighty Great Hall, which holds imperial-era figures like the Farnese Bull and Farnese Hercules from the Baths of Caracalla in Rome – the former the largest piece of classical sculpture ever found. Don't miss Ephesian Artemis, an alabaster and bronze statue with rows of bulbous objects peeling off her chest – variously interpreted as breasts, eggs, bulls' scrota, dates or pollen sacs. The mezzanine floor holds the museum's collection of mosaics – remarkably preserved works that give a superb insight into ordinary Roman customs, beliefs and humour.
Upstairs through the Salone della Meridiana, which contains a sparse but fine assortment of Roman figures, a series of rooms holds the Campanian wall paintings, lifted from the villas of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and rich in colour and invention. There are plenty here, and it's worth devoting some time to this section. Beyond the murals are finds from the Campanian cities – everyday items like glass, silver, ceramics, charred pieces of rope, even foodstuffs (petrified cakes, figs, fruit and nuts). On the other side of the first floor, there are finds the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum – sculptures in bronze mainly. The Hermes at Rest in the centre of the second room is perhaps the most arresting item, boyishly rapt and naked except for wings on his feet, while all around are other adept statues – a languid Resting Satyr, the convincingly woozy Drunken Silenus, and a pair of youthful Runners.