Many people come to the Sansevero Chapel for the Veiled Christ, and the first time we were there for that too. On the way out, though, we realised that the whole chapel is a unique work, conceived by an extraordinary man. In the historic centre of Naples, a stone's throw from Piazza San Domenico Maggiore, we take you to discover everything there is beyond its most famous statue.
A family chapel turned temple of symbols
The chapel was founded at the end of the 16th century as the burial place of the di Sangro family, princes of Sansevero: the first documents relating to the works date from 1593. It is also known as the church of Santa Maria della Pietà. The appearance we see today, however, is due almost entirely to the 18th century and to a single man, who transformed the family mausoleum into an elaborate iconographic programme, full of allegories and esoteric references.
Raimondo di Sangro, the inventor prince
Raimondo di Sangro, seventh Prince of Sansevero, was born in Torremaggiore in 1710 and died in Naples in 1771. He was a soldier, man of letters, academic, anatomist, alchemist and Freemason, but above all a tireless inventor: he worked on hydraulic machines, multi-colour printing, and artificial coloured stones and glass. His Lettera apologetica, published in 1751, was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books the following year.
Many legends have grown up around him, fuelled by the secrecy of his experiments. We suggest looking at the chapel with this in mind: every statue and every decoration is a piece of a message the prince wanted to leave to posterity.
Modesty and Disillusion
On either side of the high altar, two statues dedicated to the prince's parents face each other. Modesty (Pudicizia), sculpted by Antonio Corradini in 1752, is the monument to his mother, Cecilia Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona, who died before Raimondo was a year old. It is a female figure covered by a very fine veil that hints at the shape of the body: in a sense, a foretaste of what the Veiled Christ would become.
Opposite is Disillusion (Disinganno) by Francesco Queirolo, made between 1753 and 1754 and dedicated to his father, Antonio di Sangro, who after a dissolute life had withdrawn into a life of faith. A man tries to free himself from a net, the symbol of sin, helped by a winged genius. The net, carved entirely from marble and almost detached from the body, is a feat of virtuosity that left us as astonished as the veil of the Christ.
Along the walls stand further statues of virtues, each linked to a member of the family, such as Sincerity, Decorum, Education and Self-Control.
The Veiled Christ, the vault and the floor
In the centre of the nave lies the Veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sanmartino (1753), to which we have devoted a separate article: The Veiled Christ in Naples. Looking up, you see the vault frescoed in 1749 by Francesco Maria Russo with the Glory of Paradise, its colours still surprisingly bright. Originally the floor was also part of the story: it had a labyrinth design, almost entirely lost after a collapse in 1889, of which only a section survives.
The Anatomical Machines
Going down into the underground chamber you come to the Anatomical Machines: two skeletons, a man and a woman, standing upright, with their system of arteries and veins almost completely reconstructed. They were made by the Palermo physician Giuseppe Salerno between about 1756 and 1764. A "black legend" claimed that the prince had a substance injected into the bodies of two servants that turned their blood vessels to stone; in reality the circulatory system is an accurate reconstruction, made with materials such as beeswax. Seeing them in person is a powerful experience, and not suitable for all children.
Getting there and when to go
The chapel is on Via Francesco de Sanctis, in the historic centre. From Dante station on Line 1 it is about a ten-minute walk along Spaccanapoli. It is one of the most popular sights in the city and the space is small: we recommend booking ahead and avoiding weekends in high season. Check opening times and tickets on the official website before you go.
Nearby
To plan your itinerary, start from our guide Naples and its surroundings. Leaving the chapel, you are just a few steps from the church of the Gesù Nuovo and the Santa Chiara complex and its majolica cloister. If the mysterious side of the city fascinates you, continue with the Fontanelle Cemetery: between beliefs and truth and Visiting Underground Naples.
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