Mann: Naples Celebrates Its War Heroes With The Exhibition “Hercules Goes To War”

If you are planning to visit the MANN (Archaeological Museum of Naples) in these days, you should be aware of Le quattro giornate di Napoli, the four days of Naples, a fundamental event in the Neapolitan and Italian history. Le quattro giornate di Napoli took place between 27^th – 30^th September 1943 and refer to those days when Neapolitan people gathered and fought to send the Nazi army away, by counting only on their forces and will of freedom. An important event indeed since Naples was the first city in Europe to free itself from the German army’s oppression and did it all by itself, thanks to the courage and value of its citizens, long before the Allied entered the city.

In order to remember and celebrate their courage, the MANN recently has inaugurated the exhibition HERCULES GOES TO WAR, an intimate and touching photographic journey into the Naples of the war-era through the stories of all those men, women and children who, like ancient heroes, fought, suffered and died for freedom. “The exhibition is aimed to re-discover and re-read our past” Paolo Giulierini, MANN executive director, declares. During the Nazi’s occupation, Naples was indeed an apocalyptic scenery: air-raids lasted for hours and sometimes days, people lost their houses and families, bloody battles between partisans and German soldiers took place in the streets and neighbourhood where people lived, while hunger, misery and fear were the only companions to count on. One of the most violent and atrocious sceneries of battle was the area around the MANN, where partisans harshly fought against the invaders and many of them lost their lives. During the conflict the Director Amedeo Maiuri himself disposed of the moving of some artworks to Montecassino, to avoid the fury of the bombings.

The exhibition path will be divided in different sections and will take place among the walls of Collezione Farnese and Cielo Stellato. An interesting section will be dedicated to those children’s toys, which were used then as means of propaganda and resistance.

HERCULES GOES TO WAR is indeed a fundamental and of great historical and social value exhibition that is supported by the A.N.P.I (National Association of Italian Partisans), the Jewish community in Naples and the Arcigay Association.

The visit of this exhibition can be included in our “Discover Naples in Foot” tour.

HERCULES GOES TO WAR

MANN (NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF NAPLES)

29^TH SEPTEMBER 2018 / 31^ST JANUARY 2019

For further information please visit the official website