Chinanews.com, Shanghai, December 21st (Wang Ji) As the final exhibition of the Pudong Art Museum (MAP) this year, "Perfect Beauty: Collections of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples" officially opened on the 21st.
This is the first large-scale cooperation between the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy and a Chinese modern and contemporary art institution, and it is also a grand display of the ancient Roman civilization more than 2,000 years ago.
"A Place of Absolute Beauty: An Exhibition from the Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples".
Photo courtesy of Pudong Art Museum
The "Beauty" collection exhibition takes "beauty" as a clue, and through unique curation and design, "places" the Roman monuments that have passed through the millennium in the modern building of Pudong Art Museum, presenting approximately 70 rare treasures.
Most of these treasures come from ancient Rome more than 2,000 years ago, covering sculptures, mosaics, murals, bronzes and glass products in various forms of art, recreating the splendid civilization of ancient Rome from different angles.
Stepping into the exhibition hall, two marble statues opened the curtain of this "tour of ancient Roman civilization".
These two statues both represent Aphrodite, the "goddess of love and beauty" in ancient Greek mythology, or "Venus" in the Roman population, but the characteristics and shapes of the characters are different.
In mythology, this goddess endows everything with the quality of "beauty".
The collection exhibition also presents sculptures of mythical characters such as Athena, the goddess of wisdom, to the audience.
"A Place of Absolute Beauty: An Exhibition from the Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples".
Photo courtesy of Pudong Art Museum
In addition to ancient Roman sculptures, the "Land of Beauty" also brought a large number of precious cultural relics such as murals and daily necessities unearthed from Pompeii and Herculaneum, all of which are rare and authentic in China.
In 79 AD, the large-scale eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the prosperous ancient city of Pompeii and its surrounding city Herculaneum overnight.
At the same time, a large amount of volcanic ash also preserved the remains of these two cities intact, providing extremely important research materials for archaeologists and historians.
Currently, the National Archaeological Museum of Naples holds the most complete and important collection of frescoes from Pompeii and Herculaneum in the world.
"A Place of Absolute Beauty: An Exhibition from the Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples".
Photo courtesy of Pudong Art Museum
The concept of "beauty" also penetrated into all aspects of human images such as poets and artists in ancient Rome.
The highlight work that has attracted much attention here is the "Pseudo-Seneca Head", which is the most exquisite and most famous authentic work among all the existing busts that are recognized as the prototype of the famous Stoic philosopher Seneca. It is also an art book Common "pirate" sculptures.
This exhibit was unearthed from a papyrus villa in ancient Rome, and hundreds of precious cultural relics of great historical and archaeological significance, including mosaics, marble and bronze statues, and document scrolls, were also unearthed here.
"Beautiful Lands: Collections of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples" will be on display at the Pudong Art Museum until April 9, 2023.
(use up)