My visit to “Alessandro Magno e l’Oriente” (MANN)

Versione in italiano: QUI

Good day everyone I’m Elena and thanks to be here on Alessandro III di Macedonia_ website about Alexander the Great and Hellenism! Today I’m going to tell you something special because on Thursday 10 August 2023 I gave myself an early birthday present: I took a plane and went to Naples on purpose to see the exhibition “Alessandro Magno e l’Oriente” at National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN)!

It was an opportunity that if I had missed it I’d have regretted because for once they have an exhibition on Alexander in Italy it was unmissable and this was also my first exhibition on Alexander the Great ever. It will be a day that I will remember for a long time because it was exciting!
I’ve known for more than a year that this exhibition would take place and now I’ll tell you a little more about it.

That hot but not muggy and rather breezy day there weren’t many visitors to the MANN, perhaps it was also due to the time because I arrived at 12 but it was better, so I was able to see and linger on the various works without bothering or bothering anyone.

I liked the setup, the exhibition and the information panels because the writings were in Italian and English both, so even non-enthusiasts and obviously foreigners were able to understand a little more the impact that Alexander the Great had on history. Reading the deeds of his life and the meaning it had for posterity. The many exhibits are a marvel to behold, of all types, sizes and materials. Not to mention that they have also exploited and made an integral part of the exhibition the external area because they have placed typical plants of the time.

It is the first exhibition I have ever seen on Alexander and for me it was an emotion: seeing statues and objects in person for the first time that I had only ever seen in photos (or on the internet or in books) was special.

The Meridiana room is spectacular, both for the frescoes on the arches of the high ceiling and because whoever took care of the scenography of the exhibition took advantage of that height to hang vertical banners celebrating Alexander.

As regards the exhibition itself, I have few observations to make: they have divided the exhibition into two non-contiguous rooms because the first part is in the Monumental Atrium on the ground floor while the Meridiana Hall with the second part is on the second. It is true that all the works wouldn’t have been in one room, but if the two rooms had been closer together perhaps it would have been better and less distracting.

What I feel like criticizing a little concerns other aspects of the exhibition. Although Alessandro Magno e l’Oriente has been advertised a lot, in various ways, at the time of the visit it seemed insufficient to me how they valorised it: there are no dedicated brochures and the gadgets about it are totally absent but I will return to this later. Outside the museum you can clearly see that the Alessandro Magno e l’Oriente exhibition was underway but upon entering the museum there isn’t even a leaflet that explains what exhibition it is. However, there is no shortage of guides who are available to take you on a guided tour. Yes, Alexander the Great is more or less known to everyone but how many people even know in general terms who he was and what he did when he lived? A brochure at the entrance would have attracted even more attention in my opinion.

One thing that I don’t understand and that honestly left me perplexed is also the arrangement of the three most important marbles on Alexander: the Hermès Azara on loan from the Louvre, the head of Alexander by Lysippos on loan from the Museum of Thessaloniki and that of Alexander Heracles from the National Roman Museum. Why did they place them at the entrance to the exhibition and even almost to the Museum?? Maybe I’m thinking wrong, I don’t know, but I would have put the best at last but no, here it was exactly the opposite. I still didn’t realize I was really there at that moment when I already found myself in front of the Hermès Azara. Even though I was there I struggled to realize that I was finally seeing in person those marbles emblematic of the figure of Alexander. It was strange, in fact upon leaving the exhibition I re-admired the three marbles because I had finally assimilated everything and I truly realized what I had before my eyes.

Let’s come to the Electa bookcase in the museum. In my opinion, this is the most painful point: there is a total lack of personalized gadgets from the exhibition. There are several books on Alexander and MANN but there was only the catalog of the exhibition (not even published in English version). The only two gadgets available were a postcard and a bookmark of the mosaic with the MANN’s logo, but nothing about the exhibition in particular. Why didn’t they make better use of this highly publicized event? I’d have bought some gadgets that I could only have gotten there instead I got the postcard, the bookmark and a reproduction of the mosaic on rice paper. The same goes for the leaflets, there was nothing dedicated to the exhibition. What a pity.

Another sore point which, however, had not been foreseen and which unfortunately was a big lack is the Mosaic under renovation. Seeing that gigantic work covered by a cloth was bleak. The entire dedicated room was closed, it was illuminated but there wasn’t even a life-size reproduction in front to give visitors an idea of the mosaic. That was a real shame. We knew that the renovation work would take longer than expected due to the condition it was in, but going to the MANN without seeing the mosaic is a real shame. I’ll have to go back just to see the mosaic. In my opinion there were also other lacks of important works, both regarding Alexander and his generals and Diadochi important for the years after his death, but I am still happy with what I saw.

In recent days it became known that the exhibition attracted as many as 200 thousand visitors (the one dedicated to Picasso in the same period attracted 150 thousand). As I already told you, it was my first exhibition on Alexander the Great and I hope to be able to visit others. I took a lot of photographs in the museum and the MANN is a particular building, beautiful to look at and which I will have to enhance more in my next visit because this was more of a hit and run than a real visit to Naples.

The exhibition “Alessandro Magno e l’Oriente” is organized by the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, directed by Paolo Giulierini, in collaboration with Electa. Curators are Filippo Coarelli and Eugenio Lo Sardo. Promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture, with the support of the Campania Region, the Colosseum Archaeological Park and Intesa Sanpaolo, the exhibition benefits from the collaboration of the Museum of Civilizations of Rome and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport.

From now on I will do everything not to miss the exhibitions on Alexander! Good evening everybody,