Naples Archaeological Museum
Another IAS trip, another set of photos. Saturday January 23rd, the society traveled down to the National Archaeological Museum in downtown Napoli. This museum is ranked as the third most important archaeological museum in the world, and I was quite impressed with the quality and quantity of the collection. Unlike our visit to the Vatican museums earlier this month, I wasn't overwhelmed with the people there, it wasn't crowded at all!
The Egypt collection wasn't open-our guide told us the museum was fighting an infestation of bugs that was threatening the collection. Despite that, the sights were well worth the €6.50 for admission. The Farnesse collection of statuary was the best, and in the best condition of any Roman marble I had seen to date. Additionally, the chance to see the mosaics and frescoes that were stripped from Stabia, Boscreale, and elsewhere by the Bourbon 'excavations' made the day.
Yes, for those who have read about it, the "gabinette segreto" was open. In honesty, knowing the period and our times, I'm not sure why everyone in the U.S. is so prudish about the contents of the room, but to protect my job, I'm not publishing those photos.
The Museu is very easy to get to: the metro stops right there. Both Linea 1 and 2 stop at Museu. You can exit there and walk along the park to the entry or you can take the underground walkway to the museum entry.