The Paper learned that the opening ceremony of "The Myth of Pompeii - Exhibition of Ancient Greek and Roman Treasures and Cultural Relics in the Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy" was held yesterday at the National Museum of Classics. The exhibition exhibits 127 pieces/sets of precious cultural relics from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy, including sculptures, frescoes, ceramics, bronzes, glassware and other types.
The exhibition is divided into five units: "Dreaming Back to the Prosperous Age", "The Myth of Love in the Ancient Greco-Roman Period", "Happy Life: The Love of the Ancient Romans for a Better Life", "The Concept of Beauty in Ancient Art" and "Mythological Reproduction", focusing on love, luxury and beauty in the ancient Greco-Roman period, restoring the urban appearance and people's life of Pompeii before it was buried by volcanic ash, feeling their love for a better life, and tracing the ancient Greek and Roman civilization.
In 79 AD, the violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius completely buried Pompeii in an instant, as were other towns such as Herculaneum and Oplondis near Pompeii. But the ancient city, sealed by volcanic ash, has become an excellent clue to our understanding of ancient Greco-Roman civilization. The exhibits, mainly from these municipalities sealed by volcanic ash, are preserved today at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy, which holds the most important excavations from sites in the Pompeii region in the world.
The most striking exhibits in the exhibition are the sculptures that are white and graceful. For example, the key exhibit "Aphrodite in the Sea" portrays the splendid appearance of the goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology when she was born from the sea. The goddess was dressed in a short ancient Greek robe with clothes clinging to her body, indicating that she had just surfaced. A thicker robe covered her lower body. Her serene face and graceful posture bathing in water have influenced Western art throughout ancient and modern times.
Ganomedes and the Eagle is a marble sculpture of the young Trojan prince Ganimedes, described by Homer as the most handsome mortal of his time, in this exhibit the young Ganimedes wears a Greek Phrygian hat, a low-hanging right arm holding a shepherd's cane, and his left arm around an eagle. The dog next to him squatted and looked up at Gahnimodes.
The exhibition site also restores the scene of the volcanic eruption in the form of multimedia, so that the ancient city buried under volcanic ash for more than a thousand years returns to the world.
A plaster cast of the remains of a young woman
From the bronze statue of the Papyrus Villa
The exhibition begins with a modern replica of a bronze statue found in a papyrus villa. It dates back to the 1st century BC. The figure in the sculpture is Hermes, who gazes downward, his right leg stretched forward, his left leg bent back, his body leaning forward slightly, his left arm propped on his left thigh, and his right arm resting on the rock beside him.
According to the curators, the statue is representative of Herculaneum's iconic Papyrus Villa's rich art collection. The Papyrus Villa is an ancient Roman building with a library in one of the living quarters, and it was the 1826 Papyrus Scrolls in this library, philosophical books written mainly in Greek, that gave the villa its household name. Experts say that from such a large number of writings, it can be seen that learning, knowledge and culture were considered real pleasures at the time. The Papyrus Villa is also filled with life-size sculptures, including 58 bronze statues and 21 marble statues.
A replica of the female dancer number 5621 found in the Papyrus Villa
Another bronze sculpture on the exhibition site is the "Dancing Statue of the Agricultural Shepherd," a replica of a 2nd-century BC original: a naked male with a beard tilting his head back, his euphoria gaze looking upwards, his hair flowing. The horns on his head and small tail hint at his status as a "god of agriculture and shepherd". Its original work was decorated in the rain pond in the center of the atrium, and the House of the Agricultural Shepherd was one of the largest residences in Pompeii.
On-site exhibits
Several small bronze sculptures are also quite tense and realistic.
The lamp seat of Silenus, the god of drunkenness
Aphrodis in the sea
Love of Man and God: A Mythical Love Story
Love in ancient Greek and Roman mythology is not the same, often involving gods and mortals, creating the possibility of love between gods and people that should not exist.
Selene, the goddess of the moon, drove her chariot through the firmament every day. Once, she met Endymion by chance and fell in love with this handsome shepherd who was taking a nap. One is an immortal god, and a mortal whose love cannot last forever, so Selene asks Zeus, the god of heaven, to preserve the appearance of Endymyon. Endymion thus never woke up, remained young and handsome, and was admired every night by his lover Selene.
Selene and Endimion 1st century AD
Love between gods and mortals often arises from the beauty of the latter, as is the case between Zeus and Ganomedes, Zeus and Leda. Fascinated by the beauty of these two mortals, Zeus transforms into an eagle and brings the beautiful boy Ganomedes to Mount Olympus and makes him his beloved; He also transformed into a swan to seduce the queen of Sparta, Leda. The crystallization of Zeus and Leda's love, Helen's captivity, sparked the Trojan War.
These myths and stories have also become the focus of depiction in sculpture and painting.
Capitoline Museum of Aphrodite, Aphrodite for the goddess of love 2nd century AD
Pothos was the son of Aphrodite and Cornos, brother of Eros. He represents love for the beloved, but also unattainable or idealized love. Around the 5th century BC, the characteristics of Pothos gradually established themselves in literature and philosophy. Plato saw him in particular as a desire for something unconquerable. Pothos is depicted as a naked boy with wings, often appearing as standing and leaning on something to highlight his melancholic nature. This image was fixed in ancient Greece. In almost all of the sculptural reproductions, Posos has the same gesture. Another of the most important gods in ancient Greek mythology was Dionysus, the god of wine, one of the twelve main gods of Olympus, and one of the most complex and fascinating images of ancient Greece and Rome. He represents ecstasy, love and joy, blending female and male qualities in the tension of madness and wisdom, wildness and civilization. He gave mankind wine, and the wine made from the bunches was the best wine of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In addition to his status as Dionysus, Dionysus is considered the progenitor of theater. The first theatrical performances in ancient times were an important part of the Dionysian festival, symbolizing the great power of humanity.
Young Dionysian 2nd century AD
Dionysus on the throne 1st century AD
The following fresco is from the 1st century AD city of Pompeii and depicts a dancing Dionysian devotee. The Dionysian devotee is a typical figure of the carnival rituals associated with Dionysus, the god of wine. Its name literally means "madness" in ancient Greek, that is, it indicates that women are in ecstasy caused by Dionysus, the god of life.
Dancing Dionysian devotees 1st century AD
Dancing Dionysian devotees 1st century AD
Bell-shaped red painted double-handled mug with Eros and Dionysian motifs
Secular life in ancient Rome
For a long time, the places where the ancient Romans ate were quite austere, and the furniture was limited to the essentials. However, between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the residences of wealthy Roman families expanded, with more and more space devoted to meeting guests and living.
In monumental houses, reclining dining rooms are especially important. There, people lay on feast beds to eat. These beds are arranged in a horseshoe shape around the table, with comfortable cushions and blankets on which people can lie comfortably, leaning their upper body to the left. In the drawing room, wealthy families can receive guests and relax. The living room is surrounded by extravagant and valuable objects, and it is common to decorate the environment with larger statues, tapestries, frescoes and mosaics. These rooms are also equipped with tables, benches, candlesticks, stoves and braziers. To emphasize the atmosphere of luxury and relaxation, slaves added essence to oil lamps to delight diners with exotic scents.
Relief with mask pattern 1st century AD
Stage set with mask motifs 1st century AD
Hot drinker 1st century AD
There are teenagers and dolphins with fountain mouths
Cities in the Vesuvius region were able to preserve the most ancient frescoed decorations for today's people. There are many female characters in these frescoes: goddesses, heroine, priestess, noblewoman, incarnation of allegory and images of flight. Sometimes they are stereotypes, while sometimes their images carry a clear sense of reality and connection to everyday life.
Various sculptures of female heads from the 1st-2nd centuries AD
Various sculptures of female heads from the 1st-2nd centuries AD
Various sculptures of female heads from the 1st-2nd centuries AD
In ancient Rome, women's hairstyles also varied widely. It is undeniable that hairstyles can give a large part of beauty to a person. However, in the earliest period of ancient Roman civilization, until the 1st century BC, hairstyles for both men and women were very simple. From the end of the 1st century BC, the hairstyles of fashion-leading imperial princesses became increasingly complex. Beginning in the 2nd century AD, they made extensive use of wigs and hair covers, which are also presented on display.