The National Archaeological Museum in Naples houses many important artifacts from the classical world. It contains a large collection from Pompeii including mosaics, paintings, and artifacts excavated from the ruins. A highlight is the Farnese collection, which includes influential sculptures from the 5th century BC that inspired Renaissance artists. One of the most famous is the massive Farnese Bull sculpture depicting a scene from Greek mythology. The museum also exhibits a famous copy of the Doryphoros statue and mosaics such as the Alexander Mosaic showing the battle of Issus between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia.

1. Art stones in Naples
A. Cavociello - A. Gargiulo- class IIA LS

2. 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.

3. 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.

5. The Farnese bull is the most
famous and massive sculpture in
the collection. The colossal
marble represents the myth of
Dirce,the first wife of Lykus.
She was tied to a wild bull by the
sons of Antiope who wanted to
punish her.
The sculpture was dated 220
A.D.
The Farnese bull

6. The Doryphoros
The statue is the best copy of
Doryphoros of Polyclitus ,that
originally 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.

7. All these mosaics come from Pompeii.

9. This mosaic represents the battle between
Alexander the Great and Darius III of
Persia at Issus.
Originally mosaics, like these, were usually
used 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 it
might represent the real face of Alexander
The Great.
This picture on the right is a
recreation of the mosaic
The Alexander Mosaic

10. The painting in Pompeii

11. The paintings hosted in the museum belong
to 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 architectural
features and trompe l’oeil compositions. It gave
the illusion that the rooms were bigger and only
pastel colours were used.

12. The third style was called “ornate style”
The rooms show more figurative and colorfull
decorations. The paintings represent anything
the artist wanted. This style is really elegant.
The picture on the left is the original taken
from Villa Arianna which is not far from our
school in Gragnano.
The fouth style was generally more
complex than the second one;it was also
the most expensive and for this reason it
was used to adorne the richest people’s
“domus”.