The Secret Room – Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli

The Secret Room (Gabinetto Segreto) in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN) is one of the most controversial and revealing collections in classical archaeology. This secluded section of the museum is dedicated entirely to erotic art and artefacts recovered from the buried Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum—places where sexuality was not just accepted, but celebrated in everyday life and religion.

The room contains dozens of explicit frescoes, sculptures, lamps, amulets, and household items featuring sexual imagery—from divine lovers and fertility gods to comedic depictions of human anatomy. Highlights include a well-endowed Pan copulating with a goat, phallic wind chimes known as tintinnabula, and the famous fresco of Priapus weighing his enormous member on a scale.

For centuries, the collection was considered so scandalous it was kept under lock and key—viewable only by male scholars, noblemen, or those with special permission. It was closed, reopened, censored, and even bricked up multiple times throughout its history. Today, the Secret Room is finally open to all adult visitors, offering a provocative look at ancient attitudes toward sex, humour, and the sacred.