Secret Museum, Erotic art collection in National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy
The Secret Museum comprises around 250 works from Pompeii, including sculptures, frescoes, mosaics, bronzes, oil lamps and everyday objects with erotic motifs. The exhibition shows how Romans incorporated sexuality into religion, commerce and magic.
Under Bourbon rule, the collection was made accessible from 1819 only to select visitors of recognized morality. In 1851, the rooms were completely walled up to hide the objects from public view.
Many of the objects on display served as good luck charms or protective symbols in Roman daily life, found on house walls or in workshops. Some depictions refer to fertility rituals or belonged to the furnishings of taverns and bathhouses.
Rooms 62 and 65 on the mezzanine floor house the exhibition, and visitors under 14 must be accompanied by adults. You reach them via the main museum staircase after the ground floor.
Some lamps show hidden erotic scenes on their underside, visible only when held in hand. This surprise was meant to amuse guests at dinners or feasts.
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