# Secret Museum, Naples > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Secret_Museum%2C_Naples > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Secret_Museum%2C_Naples.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Museum%2C_Naples > Source revision: 1353758685 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Collection of sexually explicit finds from Pompeii This article is about the collection in Naples. For the collection in the British Museum, see [Secretum (British Museum)](/source/Secretum_(British_Museum)). For the cartoon, see [*Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum*](/source/Xavier_Riddle_and_the_Secret_Museum). Entrance to the *Gabinetto Segreto* The **Secret Museum** or **Secret Cabinet** ([Italian](/source/Italian_language): *Gabinetto Segreto*) in [Naples](/source/Naples) is the collection of 1st-century Roman [erotic art found in Pompeii and Herculaneum](/source/Erotic_art_in_Pompeii_and_Herculaneum), now held in separate galleries at the [National Archaeological Museum](/source/National_Archaeological_Museum%2C_Naples), the former Museo Borbonico. The term "cabinet" is used in reference to the "[cabinet of curiosities](/source/Cabinet_of_curiosities)" - i.e. any well-presented collection of objects to admire and study. ## History Re-opened, closed, re-opened again and then closed again for nearly 100 years, the secret room was briefly made accessible again at the end of the 1960s before being finally re-opened in 2000. Since 2005 the collection has been kept in a separate room in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. Although the excavation of Pompeii was initially an [Enlightenment](/source/Age_of_Enlightenment) project, once artifacts were classified through a new method of [taxonomy](/source/Taxonomy_(general)), those deemed obscene and unsuitable for the general public were termed pornography and in 1821[1] they were locked away in a Secret Museum. The doorway was bricked up in 1849.[2] At Pompeii, locked metal cabinets were constructed over erotic frescos, which could be shown, for an additional fee, to gentlemen but not to ladies. This [peep show](/source/Peep_show) was still in operation at Pompeii in the 1960s.[3] The cabinet was only accessible to "people of mature age and respected morals", which in practice meant only educated men. The museum closed from February 2020 to August 2021.[4][5] ## Collection Throughout ancient [Pompeii](/source/Pompeii) and [Herculaneum](/source/Herculaneum), erotic [frescoes](/source/Fresco), depictions of the god [Priapus](/source/Priapus), sexually explicit symbols and [inscriptions](/source/Inscriptions), and household items such as [phallic](/source/Phallus) oil lamps were found. The [ancient Roman understanding of sexuality](/source/Sexuality_in_ancient_Rome) viewed explicit material very differently from most present-day cultures.[a] Ideas about [obscenity](/source/Obscene) developed from the 18th century to the present day into a modern concept of [pornography](/source/Pornography).[6] The collection contains approx. 250 items.[5] The catalogue of the secret museum was also a form of censorship, as engravings and descriptive texts played down the content of the room. ## Gallery - Hermaphroditus. Wall painting from Herculaneum. 1 CE – 50 CE - Sculpture depicting sex - Anal sex between two males. Etruscan amphora. 5th century BCE - Marble statue of Satyr and Nymph. From Pollena Trocchia - Sexual scene from Pompeii in the Secret Museum - Sexual scene from Pompeii in the Secret Museum - Sexual scene from Pompeii in the Secret Museum - Pan copulating with goat, 1st century BCE – 1st century CE ## See also - [Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum](/source/Erotic_art_in_Pompeii_and_Herculaneum) - [History of erotic depictions](/source/History_of_erotic_depictions) - [History of human sexuality](/source/History_of_human_sexuality) - [Homosexuality in ancient Greece](/source/Homosexuality_in_ancient_Greece) - [Homosexuality in ancient Rome](/source/Homosexuality_in_ancient_Rome) - [Sexuality in ancient Rome](/source/Sexuality_in_ancient_Rome) ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** For Roman views of sexuality, see Paul Veyne, "Pleasures and excesses" in *A History of Private Life: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium*, Philippe Ariès and Georges Duby, eds. (Harvard University Press) 1987: 183–207. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Gabinetto Segreto](http://museoarcheologiconazionale.campaniabeniculturali.it/glossario/ploneglossarydefinition.2008-06-09.8351409625/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110411143549/http://museoarcheologiconazionale.campaniabeniculturali.it/glossario/ploneglossarydefinition.2008-06-09.8351409625/) April 11, 2011, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Laurentino García y García, Luciana Jacobelli, Louis Barré, *Museo Segreto. With a Facsimile edition of Herculanum et Pompéi. Recueil général des peintures, bronzes, mosaïques... (1877)* (2001) Pompeii: Marius Edizioni [On-line Bryn Mawr Classical Review](http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2003/2003-07-38.html) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHareFamin2003Introduction_3-0)** [Hare & Famin 2003](#CITEREFHareFamin2003), Introduction. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Naples, after one and a half years the Secret Cabinet of the National Archaeological Museum reopens"](https://www.finestresullarte.info/en/museums/naples-after-one-and-a-half-years-the-secret-cabinet-of-the-national-archaeological-museum-reopens). *www.finestresullarte.info*. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 2026-05-10. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_5-1) ["Napoli, riapre il Gabinetto segreto del Museo archeologico nazionale"](https://napoli.repubblica.it/cronaca/2021/08/10/news/napoli_riapre_il_gabinetto_segreto_del_museo_archeologico_nazionale-313556854/). *la Repubblica* (in Italian). 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2026-05-11. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Kendrick, Walter (1987). [*The Secret Museum*](https://archive.org/details/secretmuseumporn00kend/page/1/mode/2up) (First ed.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 1–9. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-520-20729-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-520-20729-7). ## Further reading - Grant, Michael; Mulas, Antonia (1997). *Eros in Pompeii: the Erotic Art Collection of the Museum of Naples*. New York: Stewart, Tabori and Chang. (translated from the original 1975 Italian edition). - Hare, J. B.; Famin, Stanislas Marie César (Colonel) (2003) [1836]. "Introduction". [*The Royal Museum at Naples, being some account of the erotic paintings, bronzes and statues contained in that famous 'cabinet secret' (translation of "Musée royal de Naples; peintures, bronzes et statues érotiques du cabinet secret, avec leur explication"*](http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/rmn/index.htm). ## External links - Media related to [Secret Cabinet in the Museo Archeologico (Naples)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Secret_Cabinet_in_the_Museo_Archeologico_(Naples)) at Wikimedia Commons - [Official website](https://mann-napoli.it/en/gabinetto-segreto-2) v t e Sex museums Asia Antarang Museum India Love Land China Love Land South Korea Europe Beate Uhse Erotic Museum Germany Erotic Art Museum Germany Icelandic Phallological Museum Iceland Museum Erotica Denmark Museum of Eroticism France Museum of Sexual Cultures Ukraine Schwules Museum Germany Sex Machines Museum Czech Republic Sexmuseum Amsterdam Netherlands Vagina Museum England North America Erotic Heritage Museum United States Hollywood Erotic Museum United States Kinsey Institute United States Leather Archives & Museum United States Museum of Sex United States World Erotic Art Museum United States Others Secret Museum collection in the National Archaeological Museum, Italy Secretum collection in the British Museum, England Vaginamuseum virtual museum v t e Museums of Naples Cappella Sansevero Certosa di San Martino Città della Scienza Girolamini Museo Civico Filangieri Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina Museo del Corallo Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro Museo di Capodimonte Museo Mustilli National Archaeological Museum (Secret Museum) National Museum of Ceramics National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano‎ Pio Monte della Misericordia Royal Palace of Caserta Royal Palace of Naples (Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III • Farnese Collection) Villa Pignatelli Zoological Museum of Naples [40°51′13″N 14°15′2″E / 40.85361°N 14.25056°E / 40.85361; 14.25056](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Secret_Museum,_Naples¶ms=40_51_13_N_14_15_2_E_type:landmark_region:IT) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Secret Museum, Naples](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Museum%2C_Naples) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Museum%2C_Naples?action=history)). 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