:Museo di Capodimonte

{{Short description|Art museum and historic site in Naples, Italy}}

{{coord|40|52|01.22|N|14|15|01.92|E|dim:200_scale:2000_region:IT-NA_type:landmark_source:dewiki|display=title}}

{{Infobox museum

| name = National Museum of Capodimonte

| image = ReggiaCapodimonte.JPG

| caption = Palace of Capodimonte

| imagesize = 225

| pushpin_map =

| coordinates = {{coord|40.86700|14.250555|display=inline}}

| established = 1757

| dissolved =

| location = Via Miano, 2
80131 Naples, Italy

| type = Art museum, Historic site

| visitors = 193 055{{cite web|url=http://www.beniculturali.it/mibac/multimedia/MiBAC/documents/feed/pdf/Tabella-imported-64702.pdf| title=Dati visitatori|website=beniculturali.it|access-date=25 January 2017}}(2016)

| director =

| curator =

| publictransit =

| website = {{URL|www.museocapodimonte.beniculturali.it}}

}}

Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italian schools of painting, and some important ancient Roman sculptures. It is one of the largest museums in Italy. The museum was inaugurated in 1957.{{cite web |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/museo-di-capodimonte/ |access-date=February 19, 2021 |title=Divina Commedia |last= |first= |author= |author-link= |last2= |first2= |author2= |author-link2= |date= |year= |orig-year= |editor-last= |editor-first= |editor= |editor-link= |editor2-last= |editor2-first= |department= |website=Enciclopedia Italiana |series= |publisher=Enciclopedia Italiana |agency= |location= |page= |pages= |at= |language=Italian |script-title= |trans-title= |type= |format= |arxiv= |asin= |bibcode= |doi= |doi-broken-date= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210219000214/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/museo-di-capodimonte/ |archive-date=February 19, 2021 |via= |quote= |ref= |postscript= }}

History

The vast collection at the museum traces its origins back to 1738. During that year King Charles VII of Naples and Sicily (later Charles III of Spain) decided to build a hunting lodge on the Capodimonte hill, but then decided that he would instead build a grand palace, partly because his existing residence, the Palace of Portici, was too small to accommodate his court, and partly because he needed somewhere to house the fabulous Farnese Collection which he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, last descendant of the sovereign ducal family of Parma.

Over the years, the palace was enlarged and filled with more art. In 1787, on the advice of Jacob Philipp Hackert, a laboratory for the restoration of paintings was created.

When the Parthenopaean Republic was declared in 1799, King Ferdinand IV fled to Palermo on board Nelson's Vanguard, taking the most valuable items from the museum with him. What remained was looted by the French troops of General Jean Étienne Championnet who were billeted there during the short life of the Republic in 1799. Later on, during the nine years of French reoccupation (1806 to 1815), the art collection was transferred to the Naples National Archaeological Museum. When King Ferdinand returned from Sicily in 1815, he employed many painters and sculptors to work on the redecoration of the palace. It was finally completed in 1840, and a gallery housing contemporary art was added.

After the palace passed in 1861 to the House of Savoy, further pieces were added to the art collections, appointing Domenico Morelli as consultant for new acquisitions. They also added an extensive collection of historic firearms and other weapons. In 1866, the boudoir of Maria Amalia of Saxony was transferred to Capodimonte from the Palace of Portici, and in 1877 a Roman era marble floor was brought in from a Roman villa on Capri.

After the end of the monarchy, the palace became purely a national museum in 1950, with many of the exhibits being returned from the National Museum.

Collection

{{Main|List of paintings in the Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte}}

The first and second floors house the Galleria Nazionale (National Gallery), with paintings from the 13th to the 18th centuries including major works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, El Greco, Giovanni Bellini, Simone Martini, Masaccio, Lorenzo Lotto, Giorgio Vasari, Jacob Philipp Hackert and many others. The museum is by far the best place to see paintings of the Neapolitan School, often under-appreciated by the wider world, with large holdings of Jusepe de Ribera, Luca Giordano, the Neapolitan Caravaggisti and many others (see List of works in the Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte). Much of the ground floor is taken up by part of the magnificent Farnese collection of classical, mostly Roman, monumental sculpture, which survives here and in the Naples National Archaeological Museum largely intact.

Elsewhere in the palace, the royal apartments are furnished with antique 18th-century furniture and a collection of porcelain and majolica from the various royal residences

In 2022, art dealer Lia Rumma donated more than 70 works made by 30 prominent Italian artists – including Vincenzo Agnetti, Giovanni Anselmo, Enrico Castellani, Luciano Fabro, and Michelangelo Pistoletto, and others – to the Italian government, to be displayed in the Museo di Capodimonte.Angelica Villa (20 June 2022), [https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/dealer-lia-rumma-art-povera-gift-italy-1234632386/ Influential Dealer Lia Rumma Gifts Arte Povera Works to Italy] ARTnews.

Collection highlights

File:Simone Martini. St. Louis of Toulouse Altarpiece. 1317. Mus.Capodimonte, Naples..jpg|Toulouse Altarpiece by Simone Martini, c. 1317

File:Masaccio - Crucifixion - WGA14199.jpg|Crucifixion by Masaccio, c. 1426

File:Andrea Mantegna 111.jpg|Portrait of Francesco Gonzaga by Andrea Mantegna, c. 1461

File:Sandro Botticelli 062.jpg|Madonna and Child and Two Angels by Botticelli, c. 1470

File:Trasfigurazionedicristo.jpg|Transfiguration by Giovanni Bellini, c. 1480

File:Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. 035-2.jpg|The Misanthrope by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1568

File:Rafael - Alessandro Farnese.jpg|Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese by Raphael, c. 1509–1511

File:Притча о слепых.jpeg|The Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1568

File:Parmigianino 1524-27-antea1.jpeg|Antea by Parmigianino, c. 1524–1527

File:Parmigianino 024.jpg|Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale by Parmigianino, c. 1524

File:CarracciHercules.jpg|The Choice of Hercules by Annibale Carracci, c. 1596

File:Titian – Portrait of Pope Paul III with his Grandsons – Google Art Project – edited.jpg|Pope Paul III and his Grandsons by Titian, c. 1546

File:CaravaggioFlagellation.jpg|The Flagellation by Caravaggio, c. 1607–1608

File:Lorenzo Lotto - Madonna and Child with St Peter Martyr - WGA13648.jpg|Madonna and Child with Saint Peter Martyr by Lorenzo Lotto, c. 1503

File:Deus Pai - Retábulo de San Nicola da Tolentino-1.jpg|Baronci Altarpiece by Raphael, c. 1500–1501

File:Parmigianino, sacra famiglia con san giovannino.jpg|Holy Family with St. John by Parmigianino, c. 1528

File:Parmigianino, lucrezia romana, 1540.jpg|Lucretia by Parmigianino, c. 1540

File:El Greco – Boy Blowing an Ember – Google Art Project – edited.jpg|A Boy Blowing on an Ember to Light a Candle by El Greco, c. 1570–1572

File:Musée de Capodimonte - Le Gréco, portrait de Giulio Clavio, en 1571-572 -01.jpg|Portrait of Giulio Clovio by El Greco, 1571

File:Titian - St Mary Magdalene - WGA22834.jpg|Mary Magdalena by Titian, c. 1550

File:Titian - Danaë - WGA22900.jpg|Danae by Titian, c. 1545

File:Titian - The Annunciation - WGA22821.jpg|The Annunciation by Titian, c. 1557

File:Portrait of Pope Paul III Farnese (by Titian) - National Museum of Capodimonte.jpg|Portrait of Pope Paul III by Titian, c. 1543

File:Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (by Titian).jpg|Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese by Titian, c. 1545–1546

File:Schedoni Carità.jpg|Charity by Bartolomeo Schedoni, c. 1611

File:Painting of the family of Ferdinando IV (Angelica Kauffmann, 1782).jpg|Ferdinando IV and His Family by Angelica Kauffman, c. 1783

File:Correggio 015.jpg|Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine by Correggio, c. 1520

File:Lanfranco, Giovanni - Mary Magdalen Raised by Angels - c. 1616.jpg|Glory of Mary Magdalne by Giovanni Lanfranco, c. 1616

References

Bibliography

{{cite book |language= it |author= Nicola Spinosa |title= Capodimonte |publisher = Electa |location= Milan |year= 1999 |isbn= 88-435-8613-0}}
Le Guide di Dove - Campania, Corriere della sera, 2007.
Il Museo di Capodimonte, valori di Napoli, Pubblicomit, 2002.