CAPPELLA SANSEVERO

The Chapel of Sansevero is the place of esoteric culture in Naples, the alchemical laboratory of the mysterious Prince Raimondo of Sangro.

The particularity of the Chapel is due to the presence of Masonic symbols in a sacred place.

The church, today devastated, is adjacent to the family palace of the Sansevero princes, who privately accessed through a suspended bridge that no longer exists.

Pudicizia – Disinganno and veiled Christ form the art of Art Excellence of the Chapel:

Pudicizia – the work of Venetian Antonio Corradini – represents the monument dedicated to the memory of the mother of Prince Cecilia Gaetani of the Eagle d’Aragon, who died on December 26, 1710, when Raimondo had not yet completed a year; But behind the figure of the mother stands one of the Masonic symbols in the chapel, the allegory of Wisdom.

Denied – Queirolo’s work – is dedicated to the father of Raimondo di Sangro, Antonio, Duke of Torremaggiore, represented in a net, indicating the sinful life of his father, while a winged genius, symbol of the human intellect, helps him to free himself From the net, pointing the globe to his feet, a symbol of worldly passions; The globe is supported by an open book, the Bible, sacred text, but also one of the three “great lights” of Freemasonry.

The veiled Christ – the work of the young Neapolitan artist Giuseppe Sanmartino – located right in the center of the Chapel, sculpture is famous for the mystery linked to the marble veil that almost lies on Christ in such a realistic way to give birth to the legend that it was actually a true And its own fabric, transformed into marble thanks to a special liquid invented by the left and illustrious Principe di Sansevero

What made the Prince more famous and who contributed most to his fame left is in an annexe attached to the Chapel, which is accessed by going down a ladder before leaving the complex. They are the famous Anatomical Machines, two human skeletons, one male and one female, covered with the entire venous and arterial network reproduced with details too precise for the anatomical knowledge of the time.