The MANN (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli) is the most important collection of Greek and Roman antiquities in the world. Not because Italy has better objects than London or Berlin (debatable), but because the MANN has Pompeii. Everything removed from Pompeii and Herculaneum since the 18th century is HERE: the Alexander Mosaic (the largest and most detailed mosaic from antiquity — 5.13m × 2.71m, Alexander the Great confronting Darius III at the Battle of Issus, 333 BC). The Farnese Hercules (a 3.17m marble colossus). The Farnese Bull (the largest single marble sculpture surviving from antiquity). And the Gabinetto Segreto (Secret Cabinet) — the collection of erotic art from Pompeii that the Bourbons locked away, the Victorians hid, and modern visitors now enter freely.
The Alexander Mosaic (1st century BC, from the House of the Faun, Pompeii): 1.5 MILLION tesserae forming Alexander charging on horseback into Darius's army. Darius's face shows FEAR. Alexander's shows DETERMINATION. The most famous mosaic in the world and you can stand 1 meter from it. Farnese Collection (ground floor): The Farnese Hercules (Roman copy of Lysippos, 3rd century BC — the bodybuilder leaning on his club, EXHAUSTED after the 12 labors). The Farnese Bull (Dirce tied to a bull by Zethus and Amphion — carved from a SINGLE block, the most complex marble group surviving from antiquity). Pompeii mosaics and frescoes (mezzanine + 1st floor): Rooms of frescoes removed from Pompeian walls — garden scenes, mythological scenes, portraits. The Cave Canem (Beware of the Dog) mosaic.
Gabinetto Segreto (Secret Cabinet, 1st floor): The collection of erotic art: priapic sculptures (Priapus weighing his phallus against a bag of gold), erotic frescoes from Pompeii's brothel, wind chimes shaped as phalluses, and oil lamps in forms that need no description. The Romans had no concept of pornography as separate from art. These objects were DOMESTIC — they hung in homes, decorated gardens, marked thresholds. The Secret Cabinet was locked for most of the 19th and 20th centuries. Open since 2000. Free with MANN ticket.
Piazza Museo 19, Naples. Metro L1/L2: Museo. €18. Open Wed-Mon 9-19:30. Closed Tue. 3 hours minimum — the collection is ENORMOUS. Audio guide €5 (essential for Pompeii context). Strategy: Alexander Mosaic + Farnese sculptures (ground) first, then Pompeii rooms (1st floor), then Secret Cabinet. Naples beyond pizza →