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- Gianluca Pitzeri
- Last Checked and/or Updated 19 March 2023
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- Italy Travel Tips & Ideas
- Featured Photograph © David Sivyer / Wikimedia
Buying Tickets for Sansevero Chapel
Although a ticket office is next to the Chapel, tickets can only be booked online. The Museum has a limited number of daily admissions, and it is only possible to reserve tickets up to a month in advance. Tickets can be purchased on the Official Website, by selecting your chosen date and time slot (if available). You can also buy an audioguide.
As stated on the museum website, neither the date of the ticket nor the chosen time slot can be changed once the purchase has been made. If you want to be able to book your tickets further than a month in advance, and with the possibility to cancel or change your dates, the only option is to take a guided tour that includes a ticket for the Sansevero Chapel. During peak tourist seasons, this is the only option for those trying to purchase tickets at the last minute.
The following options are available on our partner sites.
â–º GetYourGuide: Historic Naples Tour (2.5 hours) with Veiled Christ entry
► Tiqets: Naples Walking Tour with Sansevero Chapel & The Veiled Christ
â–º Viator: Naples Walking Tour Including Entrance to the Veiled Christ (2.5 hours)
Archaeology Travel may earn a commission at no extra cost to you should you decide to purchase them.
During my short stay in Naples, one of the works I most wanted to see was the Veiled Christ, a magnificent marble sculpture that has become famous for the incredible rendering of the veil covering Christ’s lifeless body. It is exhibited in the Sansevero Chapel Museum, certainly one of the most important in the city, full of works sought by countless travellers as early as the 18th century.
A legend is linked to this Chapel, according to which, around 1590, an innocent man was being led in chains to prison. Desperate, he turned towards the garden belonging to the di Sangro family and saw a part of the wall collapsing in which he spotted the image of the Madonna, to whom the man promised to dedicate an inscription and a silver lamp if he was released from prison, which he soon did.
The place soon became a place of pilgrimage, leading to the creation of a small shrine later replaced by a chapel, which took the name of Santa Maria della Pietà , transformed by Alessandro di Sangro into a temple to house the family’s burials, as the inscription at the entrance dated 1613 states.
What we see inside today, however, is the fruit of the genius of its creator Raimondo di Sangro Prince of Sansevero, who, starting in 1740, began designing and commissioning from numerous artists the various works that would go on to make up the complex iconographic design of the Chapel.
Visiting Sansevero Chapel
The Museum is located on Via F. De Sanctis in the heart of the historic centre of Naples, in a restricted traffic zone. There are no means of transport to take you there. You can choose between the Duomo, or Piazza Cavour stops, about a 10 to 15-minute walk from the Sansevero Chapel. Depending on where you are, you can take either the bus or the metro line.
Official Site | Phone: +39 0815524936 | Email: [email protected]
Opening Hours
Daily from 09h00 – 17h30, with last entry at 18h30
Closed on Tuesday
Ticket Prices
Full price: €10
Reduced/10 – 25: €7
Under 9s:Â free
Facilities
Bookshop, audioguide
Accessibility
The areas accessible to physically disabled persons are those of the Chapel and the Sacristy where the bookshop is located. The only place that cannot be visited is the underground Vault where the Anatomical Machines are kept, accessible via a 19th-century spiral staircase.
The Sansevero Chapel and its Works
Reaching the Museum while walking through the beautiful maze of streets in the historic centre was the start of the experience, which amazed me when I crossed the entrance threshold. The interior space is small, it consists of only one nave, but it is incredibly dense, full of works placed in every corner.
It consists of four round arches on each side, in which the family mausoleums are placed, while on the 10 pillars separating them are the 10 statues of the Virtues. These are dedicated to the di Sangro family’s female figures, except for one that Raimondo dedicated to his father, and are intended to represent a spiritual path leading to knowledge, following the Enlightenment principles that were gaining ground at the time.
The most famous, which together with the Veiled Christ represent the sculptural pinnacle of the entire complex, is the Disillusion and the Modesty. The first was dedicated to the father, the work of Francesco Queirolo, and represents a man intent on freeing himself from a net, the symbol of sin. It is precisely the quality of the artistry of this net that leaves one astounded, so much so that it is said that the artisans who had to finish the work refused to touch it for fear that the marble would crumble in their hands. The second, on the other hand, was made in honour of Raimondo’s mother by Antonio Corradini and depicted a female figure covered by a veil that makes the work a masterpiece for the effect of adherence and semi-transparency that it restores, with a search for form and movement that can impress.
The entire complex is noteworthy, so I will only mention two other works that impressed me: the frescoed ceiling vault known as the Glory of Paradise and the High Altar with its high marble relief on the apse depicting the scene of the Deposition.
The Veiled Christ
The exhibition’s focal point around which all the other works revolve is the Veiled Christ, a work by Giuseppe Sanmartino created in 1753. The rendering of this sculpture can leave you speechless, so much so that a legend accompanies it, according to which Raimondo di Sangro, who practised alchemy, among other things, discovered a method for marbling the veil that covered Christ’s body. The fact that such a legend originated speaks volumes about the incredible level that sculpture reaches, almost leading observers not to believe what they see. Jacopo Cardillo, a famous Italian sculptor known as Jago, says of the work that of all those present, this is the only one that shines with its own light and that its difficulty lies not so much in the creation of the veil but more in giving observers the possibility to imagine what is hidden underneath, hinting at the shapes of the body and face without showing them, allowing people to create in their minds an image that differs from case to case. This fact makes the work the epitome of sculpture.
It was initially intended to be exhibited in the underground chamber, which is the only one that was never completed and which today houses the two anatomical machines made in 1763 by the Palermo doctor Giuseppe Salerno, which are astonishing in the details of their representation of the circulatory system, which presupposed a very high level of medical knowledge for the historic period.
The genius behind the Chapel: Raimondo di Sangro
The Sansevero Chapel would only exist with the enigmatic figure of Raimondo di Sangro, who has fascinated visitors for 250 years. He was a great exponent of the early European Enlightenment, an inventor, a man of letters and arms, a publisher, a patron, and the first Grand Master of Neapolitan Freemasonry. Even at a young age, Raimondo demonstrated uncommon intelligence and, throughout his life, ventured into many different fields ranging from chemistry to hydrostatics, from typography to mechanics.
In 1751, he wrote the letter Apologetica, in which he attempted to express some of his own ideas, which he then included in the iconographic cycle of the Chapel. Still, the church deemed its contents so controversial that it forbade dissemination. After this event, he decided to concentrate on inventions and set up a workshop with all kinds of equipment. Several creations and discoveries contributed to his fame to such an extent that his palace and workshop became an almost obligatory stop on the Grand Tour that European nobles undertook to Italy.
He lived between 1710 and 1771, continually astounding his contemporaries with his genius, such as when in 1770 he ploughed the waters between Posillipo and Ponte della Maddalena on a seagoing carriage of his own invention, which in the eyes of the people ‘seemed to be drawn by horses’. He knew eight languages, and with his charisma, he attracted leading figures from the scientific and literary worlds to himself, such as the astronomer Joseph Jérôme De Lalandre, who said of him: ‘he was not an academic, but a whole academy’.
My Experience
Before visiting the Museum, my interest was entirely focused on the Veiled Christ, and I needed to realise the importance of the context in which it was located. As I moved around the Chapel and inquired about its history, my curiosity was captured by the figure of its creator, who made this magnificent place what it is today.
It represents his will, legacy to future generations, and life’s work. A large part of his finances was used for the creation of this treasure chest of art, which only at the end of my visit I realised was not the sum of many works placed in the same place but rather a single piece of art told through the sculptures, paintings, architecture and ornaments that compose it, vehicles of the message that Raimondo di Sangro wanted to leave to posterity.
While the statues of the Virtues represent the values that man must attain to arrive at knowledge, the original flooring, which had depicted a labyrinth motif, symbolised the difficulties of such a path. The statues are also laden with symbolic motifs that can be interpreted on different levels, which makes it challenging to fully understand them and contribute to providing a mystical aura to the entire environment.
The Veiled Christ, on the other hand, is the crowning glory of the whole complex, a unique masterpiece of art that allows everything to shine. I am glad I took the time to visit one of the symbols of Naples, which turned out to be a wonderful experience.
FAQS for Visiting the Sansevero Chapel
Can I take photos or video recordings during the visit?
No, the Museum and staff are careful not to allow anyone to take photos or videos.
How long does the visit last?
There is no stipulated duration. The Chapel is small but a concentration of works of art, so it depends on how much time you want to spend on each one. You can pass either 15 minutes or more than an hour inside.
Do I have to buy tickets online?
Yes, online booking is necessary to ensure you can visit the Museum, which has a limited number of daily tickets.
Can I change the date of the ticket or get a refund?
It is impossible to have any refund or change the selected date once the ticket has been purchased on the Museum’s official website.
Are animals allowed?
The only animals allowed are dog services; even small animals are not allowed.
Add the Sansevero Chapel to Your Itineraries & Travel Lists
You can create your own travel lists (such as places you have been to, places you would like to visit) and itinerary for your Naples visit. These can also be shared with your friends and on social media. To make use of this feature, you will need to login or register as a new user. For more sites and museums in Naples and Campania, see Art, Archaeology & History Sites & Museums in Campania, Italy.
Sansevero Chapel
The origins of the Chapel date back to 1613, when it was erected at the behest of Alessandro di Sangro, while its current appearance is due to Raimondo di Sangro, seventh prince of Sansevero, who conceived the entire iconographic design. The space, consisting of a single nave, houses funerary sculptures dedicated to the family’s ancestors in the side chapels, while the sculptural groups leaning against the pillars are dedicated to the women of the family, representing the various virtues. The complex is a concentration of Neapolitan Baroque, rich in symbolism and detail, and one of the most important museums in Naples. It houses the ‘Veiled Christ’, a sculpture by Giuseppe Sanmartino, which is the most famous masterpiece among the Chapel’s many works.
Archaeology Travel Writer
