Rome via Brooklyn

337 words, 2 minutes read time.

Today we went to Naples and we went to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. What I really liked from this museum was seeing how different the hellenistic style was. What I learned was how the hellenistic style focused a lot on the extremities of the human body. For example, the photo below shows the human bodies in multiple twists and spirals and you can also see the tension of the rope as the woman is being dragged. I also posted a photo of Hercules below, where his body is leaning on his club in contrapposto.

I also like how in a lot of statues the sculptors would purposefully depict drunk people. This is because using the state of drunkenness is an opportunity to explore more irregular human forms, but also practicing the idealized bodies. The hellenistic period is a lot different compared to the classical period pieces or archaic pieces I have been seeing in the past days. Those pieces are more strict and does not have as much movement compared to the hellenistic style. So, you can see throughout time the sculptors started to delve into more dramatic, realistic, and more emotionally expressive sculptures.

Before the museum we saw the duomo di Napoli or the Naples Cathedral. This was so cool because there was a wedding happening! I’m not sure why visitors were still allowed to come into the cathedral during the wedding, but I’m glad I was allowed to because this was my first wedding I technically saw. Also, after the archeological museum Rachel and I walked around Naples and one of the things I noticed is that they sell a lot of popular items that are popular in America. For example, the labubus and also Sonny Angels. These are collectibles that are expensive and very hard to get (specifically the labubus). Also, the souvenirs and other things people were selling were a lot prettier and had more unique patterns compared to what I have seen in Rome.