Rooms in the National
Archaeological Museum of Naples that have been closed for years
reopened to the public on Wednesday with an exhibition on
seduction and transformation in Greek mythology.
'Amori divini' (Divine loves) presents approximately 80
artworks including paintings, sculptures, jewels and ornaments
from local antiquity and Magna Graecia, as well as paintings and
sculptures from the 16th and 17th centuries including Giovanni
Battista Tiepolo's Diana and Actaeon and Guido Cagnacci's The
Rape of Europe.
Visitors can also walk across a sumptuous original mosaic
floor from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum.
The exhibition, running until October 16, has been curated by
Anna Anguissola and Carmela Capaldi.
Drawing inspiration from the excavations at Pompeii, it takes
visitors on a journey through amorous myths in which at least
one of the protagonists morphs into an animal, plant, object or
atmospheric phenomenon.
Each ancient artefact on display is accompanied by a
selection of more recent works.
One section tells of the 'stolen love' of Greek myths such as
that of Ganymede and another of 'love denied', such as that of
Daphne and Apollo and of Echo and Narcissus, so dear to Ovid and
the Romans.
The rooms hosting the exhibition are characterised by
geometic marble floor inlays and ancient mosaics inserted into
the floors in the first half of the 19th century, including one
from the belvedere of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum.
The floors have now been consolidated and cleaned to reveal
their colours in all their glory.
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