The term Secret Museum' (or Secret Cabinet/Gabinetto Segreto) principally refers to the collection of erotic or sexually explicit finds from Pompeii, held in the Naples National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy. There have also been secret rooms in the British Museum and Museo Borbonico. Eroticism is an aesthetic focused on sexual desire, especially the feelings of anticipation of sexual activity. ... Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. ... The Farnese Hercules The Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli (Naples National Archaeological Museum) is located in Naples, Italy. ... Naples panorama Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Nàpule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region and the Province of Naples. ... The main entrance to the British Museum. ...

Throughout ancient Pompeii, erotic frescoes, depictions of the god Priapus, sexually explicit symbols, inscriptions, and even household items (such as phallic oil lamps) were found. Ancient Roman culture had no concept of sexuality and viewed sexually explicit material very differently to most present-day cultures. Ideas about obscenity developed from the 18th century to the present day into a modern concept of pornography. Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. ... Eroticism is an aesthetic focused on sexual desire, especially the feelings of anticipation of sexual activity. ... A XIV Century fresco featuring Saint Sebastian Note: Fresco is the NATO reporting name of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. ... Bronze sculpture, House of the Vettii, Pompeii In Greek mythology, Priapus was a fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. ... Inscriptions are words or letters written, engraved, painted, or otherwise traced on a surface and can appear in contexts both small and monumental. ... The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... Obscenity has several connotations. ... Pornographic movies Pornography (from Greek πορνη prostitute and γραφία written material) (also informally referred to as porn, or porno) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but distinct from, erotica, though the two terms are often used interchangeably. ...

Although the excavation of Pompeii was initially an Enlightenment project, once artefacts were classified through a new method of taxonomy, those deemed obscene and unsuitable for the general public were termed pornography and locked away in a Secret Museum. The cabinet was only accessible to "people of mature age and respected morals", which in practice meant only educated males. The catalogue of the secret museum was also a form of censorship, where engravings and descriptive texts played down the content of the room. Enlightenment may refer to: Enlightenment (concept), a concept in mysticism, philosophy and psychology For the Hindu religious concept of enlightenment, see moksha For the Buddhist religious concept, see Bodhi, Satori, Nirvana, Great Perfection For the Yoga concept of enlightenment, see Yogic Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment, a period in European... Taxonomy (from Greek verb tassein = to classify and nomos = law, science, cf economy) may refer to: the science of classifying living things (see alpha taxonomy) a system of classification in some other field Taxonomy was once only the science of classifying living organisms, but later the word was applied in... Pornographic movies Pornography (from Greek πορνη prostitute and γραφία written material) (also informally referred to as porn, or porno) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but distinct from, erotica, though the two terms are often used interchangeably. ...

The excavation of Pompeii was important to a breadth of powerful, and often conflicting, interests who saw the discovery of Pompeii as validating their own view of history, excluding anything that did not fit the model. The variety ranges from Mussolini who saw the excavation of Pompeii as validating the continuity of a superior race, to the Vatican who saw it as evidence of a direct link to the Holy Roman Empire. In either case, the presence of sexually explicit material was problematic. Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ... This page is about the Germanic empire. ...

Re-opened, closed, re-opened again and then closed again for nearly a hundred years, the secret room was briefly made accessible again at the end of the 1960s before being finally re-opened in the year 2000. Since 2005, the collection was held in a separate room in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. A sign on the door warns the public of its contents. The Farnese Hercules The Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli (Naples National Archaeological Museum) is located in Naples, Italy. ...

References

Kendrick, Walter. The Secret Museum – Pornography in Modern Culture (Berkley: University of California Press, 1996)

External links

• Erotica collections photographs