Naples: the Siren Parthenope and the others

We're still here, tenaciously attached to the idea of ​​illustrating all the beautiful and accessible things we encounter in our travels. This time, we're staying in Naples to talk about an exhibition at the MANN (National Archaeological Museum of Naples) until July 6th, dedicated to the Siren Parthenope and the artworks inspired by sirens throughout the centuries (bas-reliefs, sculptures, paintings, everyday objects).

The exhibition is titled Parthenope. The Siren and the City (*) and fits perfectly into the celebrations for the 2,500th anniversary of Neapolis. To better understand it, we're quoting the text found on the MANN website:

The idea for the exhibition stems from a reflection on the centuries-old roots of the Siren figure in the Neapolitan collective imagination: everyone knows that Parthenope is the city's mythical founder and recognizes a connection to this hybrid being, connected to the sea and navigation, to music and seduction.

[...]

The exhibition aims primarily to shed light on the form of the Sirens and the progressive and extraordinary metamorphosis these beings have undergone over the centuries: from birds with human heads to women with bird legs and then, in the Early Middle Ages, to women with fish tails.

Starting from the archetypal episode of the encounter with Odysseus narrated by Homer, the exhibition illustrates the mythical events in which the Sirens are protagonists, and their functional transformation from dangerous enchantresses to benevolent companions, génies des passes.

[...]

Ample space is given to the history of the settlement of Partenope on the Pizzofalcone promontory, with the presentation of previously unexhibited materials, some from private collections and some recovered from recent excavations for the Metropolitana. These materials allow us to date the site's foundation to the 8th century BC and to clarify the network of commercial and cultural exchanges in which it was embedded.

The exhibition then leads visitors on a discovery of the Siren's ritual and political function in Neapolis, the "New City" founded a short distance from Parthenope at the end of the 6th century BC, and the persistence of this character throughout history, in artistic, musical, and audiovisual production, and in the religion of the modern and contemporary city.

In the MANN's atrium, a site-specific work by Francisco Bosoletti is dedicated to Parthenope's suicidal dive, a generative event for the city. The artist worked on site, in the presence of the public.

The exhibition is on display in the rooms on the third floor of the museum building; it is accessible by wheelchairs via elevators.

Let's take a look at the images of the works that most struck us, starting with Francisco Bosoletti's:

FRAGMENT OF THE SPINACORONA FOUNTAIN DEPICTING A MERMAID - Naples, 16th century

NECKLACE WITH GOLD AND GLASS PENDANTS WITH MERMAIDS AND ACHELOUS HEADS - Vulci, 5th century B.C.

ANTEFIX DEPICTING A SIREN - Satricum, late 6th - early 5th century BC.

OINOCHOE IN THE SHAPE OF A SIREN - Kythera (Greece), 6th century BC

PLATE WITH BEARDED SIREN - Boeotia (Greece), 580-570 BC

ETRUSCAN URN WITH ODYSSEUS AND THE SIRENS - Volterra, mid-2nd century BC

SIREN - circa 1600

BAS-RELIEF WITH A SIREN ATTACKED BY A GRIFFIN - Alba Fucens, 12th century AD.

SIREN - Guido Balsamo Stella, 1915

HIGH RELIEF WITH MYTHOLOGICAL SCENE OF A DANCER AND A MERMAID - Bari, 11th century AD

THE RETURN OF ODYSSEUS - Ettore Tito, Trieste 1919

SPONGES BENEDETTO BRIGNONE & SONS - MERMAID HUGGING A SPONGE IN THE SEA - Giovanni Bottini, 1924

LEKANE WITH SIRENS - Vico Equense, 4th century BC

MERMAID-SHAPED UNDERWASHING VASE - Gragnano, 6th century BC

PALAZZO SANFELICE - Via Sanità, Naples

SPINA CORONA FOUNTAIN OR FOUNTAIN OF THE TEETS - Via Giuseppina Guacci Nobile, Naples

PALACE OF THE PROVINCE - Piazza Matteotti, Naples

SIREN CIACIONA - Trallalà, Largo Ecce Homo, Naples

FOUNTAIN OF THE SIREN - Piazza Sannazaro, Naplesi

SAN CARLO THEATRE - Via San Carlo, Naples

LILITH - LSD Alisei

DONNA MARIANNA 'A CAPA 'E NAPULE (sculpture once thought to represent Parthenope)

At this point, allow us a small digression abroad: we found this painting by a Polish painter in the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, but it would have fit perfectly into this exhibition:

SIRENS - Teofil Kwiatkowski, 1845

Very inspiring, isn't it? As a reminder, the exhibition is open until July 6th, unless extended, and we'll see you in a new post. We hope you enjoyed this one.

SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!!

(*) This symbol indicates the presence of accessible restrooms.