Sansevero Chapel

History

According to the historian Cesare d'Engenio (1642), this chapel was probably first built around 1590. At this time Giovan Francesco di Sangro, Duke of Torremaggiore, had just had a serious illness and he had the little chapel built to the Virgin of Mercy in his garden in sign of gratitude for his recovery. In 1608 Alessandro di Sangro, son of Giovan Francesco, had the chapel enlarged "because it was not able to hold all the people who came to see the endless miracles performed there". The chapel also became a burial place for members of the family, in addition to being a place of worship.

The last sculpture is certainly the finest and has become the symbol of the chapel - the Veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sanmartino. Until the recent discovery of the original sketch for this sculpture (made in 1753), it was attributed to a sketch by Corradini. It is now known that Sanmartino, a Neapolitan sculptor, was commissioned to make this piece and that it was to be placed in the cavea, illuminated from above by the "eternal lamps" invented by the Prince and not where it is placed now - in the centre of the nave. With the original position in mind, Sanmartino studies the effects of light on the intricate folds of the shroud covering the body, lying on the cushions. In this superb play of light and shadow, death is no longer seen as a painful separation from life, but as a poetic moment. This poetry originated from the sculptor's amazing technical skill, which can be seen in many of the works made during his long career. This sculpture is one of his early ones, and the languid atmosphere of pre-Romanticism can be strongly felt here. So striking was this piece, that another famous sculptor - Antonio Canova - wanted to buy it during a visit to Naples, but fortunately for Naples that purchase was never made.