The Naples National
Archaeological Museum (MANN) is taking Pompeii to five Chinese
cities starting in February for over a year.
MANN is the largest lender in the world of Pompeiian
artifacts, and has taken statues, frescoes and decorations from
its immense archives to loan to the Jinsha Archaeology Museum in
Chengdu.
Among the 120 works and artifacts on loan is the "calidarium"
from the Villa di Pisanella in Boscoreale, one of the best
preserved and most complete examples of private thermal baths
from ancient Roman times.
Also making its way to China is the famed "balneum", an
extraordinary example of ancient-world hydraulic work, which has
been taken apart and distributed into 14 crates for shipping.
Upon its return in 2019, it will be part of the historic
"technology section" that will be reopened at the MANN.
The traveling show, titled "Pompeii, The Infinite Life 2018",
is part of the EU-China Tourism Year and is a project of
Beijing's ChinaMuseum Ltd with the cooperation of the Italian
Cultural Ministry.
MANN Director Paolo Giulierini said being involved in the
project is a "great honour".
"We hope it will bring many visitors both to the exhibitions
as well as to our museum, considering the constant growth of
Chinese tourists who are passionate about archaeology," he said.
"The exhibitions will also allow for sharing on issues such
as preservation, development, local promotion and technological
research. In our endless archives, we have a bobbin with a silk
thread that was likely produced by the Chinese. It's an
unmatched object that at the moment is undergoing study and
restoration. We like to think that that silk thread is a symbol
that, like the one that held Theseus and Ariadne together during
the feat with the Minotaur, symbolically connects the two great
empires before and the two countries now, to overcome the new
monster: fear of what's different".
The exhibitions will start in Chengdu during the Sun
Festival, until May 3; the other stops will be Qinshihuang
Mausoleum Museum (June 1-August 24), Tianjin Museum (September
21-December 14); Wuhan Museum (February-March 2019), plus a
fifth museum still to be determined.
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