Capodimonte Museum, Naples
Italian Art Gallery: History, Collection
Highlights.
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Capodimonte Museum, Naples |
National Museum of Capodimonte, NaplesContents • History and Collection |
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ITALY APPRECIATING PAINTING |
One of the best art museums in Europe, the National Museum of Capodimonte (Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte) is located in the grand Palace of Capodimonte in Naples. Its exquisite collection of artworks includes many different types of art but focuses primarily on painting and decorative art from Naples, but also includes examples from most Italian schools of painting and some sculpture from antiquity. The origins of the Capodimonte museum date back to 1738, when King Charles VII of Naples (later King Charles III of Spain) decided to build a hunting lodge on Capodimonte hill, but then decided instead to make it a palace; partly to accommodate his expanding court but also to house the Farnese art collection which he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese. Over time the palace was extended, as was the art collection. Today, the core of the collection still derives from the Farnese and Bourbon dynasties. The gallery’s large holding of portrait art comes mostly from the Farnese collection. It includes portraits by Titian (c.1485-1576), Sebastiano del Piombo (1485-1547) and Lorenzo Lotto (c.1480–1556), as well as the Mannerist Rosso Fiorentino (1494–1540). The Bourbon collection includes portraits by Neoclassical painter Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807), the Sant'Eufemia (1454) sculpture by Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506) and The Holy Family by Palma the Elder (1480–1528). |
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NETHERLANDS LATEST EXHIBITIONS |
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The gallery’s most famous painting is probably The Gypsy Madonna (1517) by Correggio (1489–1534), the foremost painter of the Parma school. Also on permanent display, the monumental Crucifixion (1426) by Masaccio (1401-28) who was one of the greatest painters of the Quattrocento period, although his painting career was short-lived. Other major works include Madonna and Child and Two Angels (c.1468) by Botticelli, which was once attributed to Filippino Lippi (1457-1504). There is a Portrait of Clement VII (1531) by Sebastiano del Piombo as well as beautiful canvases by Titian (1488-1576) and Parmigianino (1503-40). An important exemplar of the 17th century Neapolitan School of Painting, founded by Caravaggio and Ribera, is The Flagellation of Christ (1607) by Caravaggio. At the time, Naples was the second largest city in Europe (after Paris), and with 3,000 churches and monasteries, was a centre of Counter Reformation piety and thus religious art. For more, see: Painting in Naples (1600-1700). For the origins of Neapolitan caravaggism, please see: Caravaggio in Naples. For later developments during the 17th century, see: Neapolitan Baroque painting (c.1650-1700). Highlights of the 17th century Neapolitan School held by the museum, include works by Battistello Caracciolo (1578-1635), Lanfranco (1582-1647), Massimo Stanzione (1585-1656), Jusepe Ribera (1591-1652), Mattia Preti (1613-99), Bernardo Cavallino (1616-56), Luca Giordano (1634-1705), Giovanni Battista Beinaschi (1636-88), Francesco Solimena (1657-1747) and others. In addition, there is a large collection of 19th century Neapolitan art including works by Giacinto Gigante (1806-1876), Vincenzo Migliaro (1858-1938), Antonio Mancini (1852-1930) and Francesco Paolo Michetti (1851-1929). There is a collection of Renaissance armour, coins, Flemish tapestries, crystal and ivory decorative arts; as well as the famous porcelain salon, a room whose walls are entirely covered in porcelain. The great chandelier was shattered during a bombing in World War II but was miraculously reconstructed. Today there are thousands of artworks in the collection to delight visitors. The Palace itself is located in a beautiful park and visitors can step out into the tufa stone balconies to appreciate the full view. Although the history of the museum can be traced back to 1738, the gallery was not opened until 1957, which is why it is not still yet widely known. A veduta (view painting) is a very detailed cityscape. As wealthy citizens of Europe began to travel more in the 18th century, in what became know as the Grand Tour, vedute pictures of Venice became very popular as tourists bought them as mementos of their tour. There are a few fine vedute examples in the Capodimonte museum by Canaletto (1697-1768). There are also landscape paintings by Claude Lorrain (1600-82) and watercolours by artists from the Italian landscape school of Posillipo (named after a hilltop village near Naples) which tried to invigorate freshness in the more traditional academic landscape style of painting. - Pope
Paul III with his Grandsons (1546) by Titian. |
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Address Phone Opening Times Monday to Saturday: 10am to 7pm |
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• For details of more Italian galleries,
see: Best Art Museums.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ART |
