National Archaeological Museum of Paestum

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The National Archaeological Museum of Paestum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum) is a museum in Capaccio-Paestum (Salerno, southern Italy) that houses archaeological finds from excavations of the ancient Greek city of Poseidonia/Paistom, then Paestum. The museum is one of the major "on-site" museums in Italy.. [1] The different sections that compose it allow the visitor to retrace the history of the Greek, Lucanian and Roman city.

Contents

The museum contains numerous finds from the sacred city, from the Heraion at Foce del Sele and from the nearby necropolis (Gaudo necropolis, Santa Venera [2] necropolis). [3] Since 2015, following the Prime Ministerial Decree 171/2014, the museum became a state museum with special autonomy. [4] In 2017, the Paestum excavations and museum were the fifteenth most visited Italian state site, with 441,037 visitors. [5]

The collection

The museum holds a diverse collection of artifacts from the sanctuary sites of Paestum. Among them are inscriptions that provide evidence of cults associated with healing. Votive terracotta figurines are also on display, depicting various deities, including Athena and a seated goddess believed to be Hera. The votive offerings, including figurines and potsherds, preserved in the museum provide decisive evidence, through the iconography of the goddess, for tracking the origins of the cult of Hera of Poseidonia within the Achaean tradition of Southern Italy, which in turn had its roots in the cult of Hera practiced in more ancient times by the Achaean populations of the Eastern Plain of Argolis. [6]

The museum also houses painted vases, such as a locally produced lekythos depicting a scene from the Adonia festival, which commemorated the death of Adonis. During its early days, Paestum imported pottery from Attica. However, by the 4th century BC, the city had its own thriving pottery workshops. The museum showcases numerous exquisite examples of red-figured Paestan ware, primarily from burial sites. [7] [8] These artifacts are exhibited in a gallery that offers a view of the surrounding farmland, stretching towards the Campanian mountains. The farmland is still enclosed by ancient defensive walls, adding to the historical ambiance of the museum's setting. [9]

The National Archaeological Museum of Paestum also preserves about five hundred painted slabs and fragments of slabs, mainly from tombs of the Lucan period (5th – 3rd century BC), recovered from necropolises during the first decades of the 20th century. [10] The restoration/maintenance of many slabs of the Lucanian funerary art has been a unique opportunity to carry out a multi-disciplinary and multi-analytical study of these pre-Roman wall paintings. [11]

The storage of the Archaeological Park of Paestum hosts several thousands of illegally excavated artefacts, mostly grave goods from the rich necropolises outside the ancient walls. [12] These artefacts are also useful for investigating stolen archaeological finds. [13]

The Museum is also autism friendly: thanks to the Autism Friendly path, everyone will have the opportunity to have a truly unique experience of its kind. [14]

The exhibition

The exhibition unfolds over three floors divided into seven sections:

Among the exhibits the following stand out:

Research

A wider research line is aimed at deepening the understanding of cultural interactions and technological influences between Greek colonies and Italic pre-Roman societies. The museum has provided the fragments analyzed in some studies. [18] The direction of the Museum promoted research activities on scientific methodologies for the study of archaeological finds in collaboration with the Associazione Italiana di Archeometria. [19]

Instruments preserved at the Museum, like aulos, are reconstructed in 3D model [20]

The Museum has hosted a survey using conjoint choice approach questions to elicit people’s preferences for cultural heritage management strategies for an outstanding world heritage site. [21]

Related Research Articles

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In ancient Greek religion, Hera is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Olympus, sister and wife of Zeus, and daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. One of her defining characteristics in myth is her jealous and vengeful nature in dealing with any who offend her, especially Zeus' numerous adulterous lovers and illegitimate offspring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magna Graecia</span> Historical region of Italy formerly inhabited by the ancient Greeks

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paestum</span> Ruined Ancient Greek and Roman city in southern Italy

Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order dating from about 550 to 450 BC that are in an excellent state of preservation. The city walls and amphitheatre are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as paved roads. The site is open to the public, and there is a modern national museum within it, which also contains the finds from the associated Greek site of Foce del Sele.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sele (river)</span> River in Italy

The Sele is a river in southwestern Italy. Originating from the Monti Picentini in Caposele, it flows through the region of Campania, in the provinces of Salerno and Avellino. Its mouth is in the Gulf of Salerno, on the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the borders between the municipalities of Eboli and Capaccio, in the beginning point of Cilentan Coast.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Italian ancient Greek pottery</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomb of the Diver</span> Ancient Greece funerary artifact in Paestum, Italy

The Tomb of the Diver, now in the museum at Paestum, Italy, is a frescoed tomb of the 5th century BCE, famous for the mysterious subject matter of the ceiling fresco, a lone diver leaping into a pool of water. The context of the tomb is disputed: there has been scholarly debate about whether the tomb was built by people from the nearby Greek settlement of " Poseidonia", now Paestum, or by an ancient Italic tribe living in the surrounding countryside. The tomb was built with five large stone slabs, each with a fresco attributed to one of two artists. The four walls are decorated with scenes of a symposium which is uncommon for a funerary context. This diving figure is unique to this tomb, no other ancient Mediterranean artworks have imagery comparable to the diver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni</span>

Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park is an Italian national park in the Province of Salerno, in Campania in southern Italy. It includes much of the Cilento, the Vallo di Diano and the Monti Alburni. It was founded in 1991, and was formerly known as the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaudo culture</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelsey Museum of Archaeology</span> Archaeology museum in Newberry Hall

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heraion at Foce del Sele</span> Archaeological site in southwestern Italy

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Paola Zancani Montuoro was an Italian classical scholar, archaeologist, educator and writer who specialized in ancient Greek art in Italy. After participating in the restoration of monuments around Pompei, in 1934 together with Umberto Zanotti Bianco, she embarked on excavation work in Foce del Sele which revealed the Sanctuary of Hera. From 1960, she investigated the ancient sites of Sybaris and Francavilla Marittima in Magna Graecia. She was an active member of the Accademia dei Lincei from 1956, where she served as a correspondent and editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Temple of Hera (Paestum)</span>

The First Temple of Hera (Paestum)—also known as Temple of Hera I and the Basilica—is an archaic Doric order Greek temple in the ruins of the ancient city of Paestum, Italy. This Doric temple is considered one of the oldest Greek temples in Italy and is known for its distinctive architectural features. It was built around 550–525 BCE, within a century of the city's establishment by Greek colonists from Sybaris, who named the city Poseidonia.

References

  1. ↑ "Paestum, temples on the site of an important Greek city in Campania, Italy".
  2. ↑ https://lsa.umich.edu/kelsey/research/past-field-projects/paestum-poseidonia-italy.html
  3. ↑ https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/4dc75d67-7b14-40c3-ac44-d226ec109e57/content
  4. ↑ Alfano, Maria Rosaria; Baraldi, Anna Laura; Cantabene, Claudia (2023). "Eppur si muove: An evaluation of museum policy reform in Italy". Journal of Cultural Economics. 47: 97–131. doi: 10.1007/s10824-022-09447-6 . S2CID   247355296.
  5. ↑ "Paestum, 2017 da record: 22% di visitatori in più". 4 August 2017.
  6. ↑ https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/4dc75d67-7b14-40c3-ac44-d226ec109e57/content
  7. ↑ https://www.carc.ox.ac.uk/XDB/ASP/browse.asp?tableName=qryData&newwindow=&BrowseSession=99&companyPage=Contacts&newwindowsearchclosefrombrowse=false
  8. ↑ "Dionysus - My Favourite Planet People".
  9. ↑ "National Archaeological Museum of Paestum". 22 March 2018.
  10. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346953810_Conservation_and_virtual_reconstruction_of_the_Lucanian_Paintings_from_the_National_Archaeological_Museum_of_Paestum_ITALY
  11. ↑ Amadori, Maria Letizia; Costantini, Ilaria; Madariaga Mota, Juan Manuel; Valentini, Laura; Ferrucci, Fabiano; Mengacci, Valeria; Camaiti, Mara (2021). "Calcium antimonate: A new discovery in colour palette of Paestum wall paintings". Microchemical Journal. 168: 106401. doi:10.1016/j.microc.2021.106401.
  12. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325836009_Results_of_diagnostic_campaign_promoted_by_AIAr_in_the_deposits_of_the_Archaeological_Museum_of_Paestum/link/5b2861d3aca2727335b6fddf/download
  13. ↑ "Steinhardt Redux: Feds Seize Fresco Looted from Italian World Heritage Site, Destined for New York Billionaire". 18 November 2013.
  14. ↑ https://www.napolike.com/paestum-a-dip-in-the-blue-path-autism-friendly-archaeological-park-paestum
  15. ↑ Ferrari, Giorgia; Bosi, Giovanna; Ansaloni, Ivano; Sala, Luigi; Pederzoli, Aurora; Baraldi, Pietro; Mussi, Laura; Nannini, Matteo; Zannini, Paolo; Mazzanti, Marta Bandini (2018). "Images and colors from the tombs of Paestum: A multidisciplinary study of the pigments in the flora and fauna iconography". Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 20: 818–833. Bibcode:2018JArSR..20..818F. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.05.008. S2CID   194846036.
  16. ↑ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metopa_Paestum_03.JPG#/media/File:Metopa_Paestum_03.JPG
  17. ↑ "Farewell scene, painted slab of Tomb 1 of the Necropolis in Spinazzo".
  18. ↑ Veneranda, Marco; Costantini, Ilaria; Prieto-Taboada, Nagore; Larrañaga, Aitor; Castro, Kepa; Arana, Gorka; Averna, Andrea; Rescigno, Carlo; Madariaga, Juan Manuel (2021). "Spectroscopic-assisted archaeometric studies to determine the production technology of the VI BC Zeus Enthroned statue (Paestum, Italy) and Pre-Roman technology transfer". Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy. 249: 119294. Bibcode:2021AcSpA.24919294V. doi:10.1016/j.saa.2020.119294. PMID   33360059. S2CID   229692642.
  19. ↑ https://www.socgeol.it/files/download/pubblicazioni/Abstract%20Book/abstract_book_pisa_2017_doi.pdf [ vague ]
  20. ↑ http://www.archcalc.cnr.it/journal/resource.php?id=model:7
  21. ↑ Ugo Colombino, Annamaria Nese and Patrizia Riganti, "Eliciting public preferences for managing cultural heritage sites: Evidence from a case study on the temples of Paestum".

Further reading

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