Day 13 - I love you MANN

Having survived a rather disappointing visit to Herculaneum, with more closures than I had expected,  I was crossing my fingers as I made my way to the National Archeological Museum in Naples (aka MANN), since I had run into inexplicable closures there in the past. I particularly wanted to see the Farnese collection of sculptures, which we missed last time. 

Entry to the museum (from last visit, with Marianne)

I came into town on the Circumvesiana, the local train system for the Bay of Naples, which pretty closely resembles the Disneyland train, with open windows, rattly cars, and excitable youths hanging from the bars and out the windows. Arriving in Naples' main station, it was nice to see that they had finished the big (enormous) mall project out in front of the station, and they had also given the Metro line a total facelift, which really improved the feeling of not being in the Bronx. Hopped up to the museum without a snag, got my ticket, and was glad to hear that all the galleries were open today.

New subway station in Napoli- a vast improvement!

Started out in the Farnese collection, passing through sections of architectural stonework that impressed me just as much as the meticulous painting I've seen all over this area. How they achieved such a high level of craftsmanship (and at times even why; explain that later) draws me deeper and deeper into the puzzle of the Roman Civilization. 

Section of entablature from the Domus Flaviana on the Palatine. Incredible craftsmanship that goes way beyond "necessary"

The Farnese were a rich and powerful family that reached the papacy with Alessandro (1468-1549) who became Pope Paul III and was partly responsible the Palazzo Farnese in Campo Dei Fiori, and the amazing Palazzo Farnese at Caprarola. They collected Roman statuary from a variety of places, including the Baths of Caracalla, and their garden on the Palatine Hill overlooking the Roman Forum. They acquired other pieces by purchase, marriage, and occasionally by pilfering. Most of the collection was originally displayed in Rome, at the Palazzo Farnese or in the Garden, but it was then moved to Napoli by the last of the Farnese line, who was King Charles III of the Bourbon dynasty, who ruled from there. I'm going to imagine there's still more than a few Romans who are kind of pissed off about that!

Scooby Who? I'm a Leopard, you dummy!

The collection included architectural fragments from the Domus Flavia on the Palatine, some amusing animals from different spots, and then a hall with numerous gigantic statues that came from the Baths of Caracalla, where they must have looked quite fitting in the enormous vaulted hallways that housed the baths, playing fields, libraries and social rooms. The largest is the so-called Farnese Bull, which tells the story of Dirce, tied to a bull for her mistreatment of Antiope. The scale of this piece is stunning, especially considering it was carved from a single block of marble. It's had numerous repairs and restorations over the years since it's unearthing, but it, like the Laöcoon statue at the Vatican, give some idea of the grand gesture sculptures at that time. In other words, it's really big!

The Farnese Bull sculpture, carved from a single block of marble!

After the sculpture hall I went up to the rooms that house the artifacts excavated from the Villa di Papiri in Herculaneum, which is directly below me in my hotel right now. It was the villa the Getty museum used as a model for their building in Pacific Palisades. The sheer bulk of things that came out of there is pretty mind blowing, especially considering that it's really only fractionally excavated, with tunnels dug in the 18th century and refilled (because it's under my hotel!) It always gets me how much is known but undug here- at least one quarter of Pompeii is still under the dirt- they just don't have enough funds to dig it out properly, and the conservation of what has already been uncovered is the highest priority right now, so things just have to wait.

One of about 20 ranks of statues and busts that came from the Villa di Papiri. It must have been stunning!

Had fun running into an Italian family that were staying at the place I'm staying in Herculaneum- they seemed very nice that morning when we talked, and it turned out the only American artist they knew is a guy I recently met after being aware of his work for quite some time- D. Jeffery Mims. Small world indeed. I've met a lot of nice people traveling on my own for a bit while Marianne finishes up at work. The couple in the flat are both chemists- she's Polish, he's Brazilian, both working with the university in Portici, next to Ercolano. They were heading to a conference in Korea, and then Japan. And a British couple here on holiday, who came sort of on a whim, and don't seem to know anything about it other than that it's warm. Spoke with a Mexican guy who was working in Germany and had taken a cheap room in Naples, only to find it was actually about 15 miles away and was spending a lot on taxis. And finally last night as I finished up the day in Naples, I saw a young woman lugging TWO of those enormous hard case suitcases down the stairs to the Circumvesiana, so I offered to help with one. She was from Chile, though she spoke very good English, and her friend was from Holland- they had both just returned from a food convention in Turkey, and were heading down to Sorrento for a weekend before returning home to work. I don't know how she was going to manage the two bags, and they had no reservation in Sorrento, but they seemed very undaunted. Fun to meet adventurous people!

My Brit friends Simon and Liz were good company at the place in Herculaneum

After the museum, I went to the Piazza Dante and walked down the "SpaccaNapoli", an alley that runs in a straight line right through the middle of the old section of Naples, with shops, vendors, pizzerias, scooters, and even the occasional car all weaving and ducking and yelling and waving their way up and down this chaotic but vibrant city. Back at the hotel, they finally had a real room for me, so I moved all my stuff across the street (after saying good bye to the chemists!) and went to bed.