DK Travel : Naples & the Amalfi Coast : Capodimonte, Naples

Capodimonte, Naples

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Construction began on this royal palace, museum and porcelain factory in 1738, under architect Antonio Medrano, and it has been home to a large part of the Farnese Collection since 1759. After the French occupation in 1799 the collection was briefly dispersed, with some pieces taken away to France, but they were later returned following the restoration of the Bourbons in 1815. With the Unification of Italy, in 1860, the palace and its treasures became the property of the House of Savoy and the residence of the Dukes of Aosta until 1947. It was opened to the public in 1957 and restored in 1996, with the Neapolitan and contemporary art galleries added in 1997.
The Royal Porcelain Factory is today home to the Institute for the Porcelain and Ceramics Industry.

Top 10 Features

1. Palazzo Reale

The palace was first conceived as a hunting lodge by Charles III, but the plans grew into a three-storey structure set in a 7-sq km (2.5-sq mile) park.
2. Pre- and 14th-Century Art

Most of the earliest Italian art in the museum was acquired in the 19th and 20th centuries. Important works include Simone Martini’s lavish Gothic masterpiece San Ludovico di Tolosa .
3. 15th-Century Art

Powerful works here include Botticelli’s Madonna with Child and Angels and Bellini’s sublimeTransfiguration .
4. 16th-Century Art

Here you’ll find a serene Assumption of the Virgin by Pinturicchio, an Assumption by Fra’ Bartolomeo and works by Titian and Raphael.
5. 17th-Century Art

Strongest of all the works here is Caravaggio’s Flagellation of Christ and Artemisia Gentileschi’s horrifying Judith and Holofernes .
6. 18th-Century Art

Neapolitan artist Francesco Solimena is well represented here, most especially by his opulent portrait of a courtier, Principe Tarsia Spinelli. Other canvases provide us with period views of Naples and its bay and other scenes, including one of Vesuvius in eruption by Pierre-Jacques-Antoine Volaire.
7. Porcelain Parlour

This parlour was designed for Queen Maria Amalia. Painted and gilded porcelain assumes the shapes of festoons, musical instruments and figurative scenes.
8. Drawings & Graphic Works

Sketches and studies by some of the greatest artists can be seen here, including works by Fra’ Bartolomeo, Raphael and Michelangelo.
9. Decorative Arts

The palace is replete with decorative arts, from ivory carvings to tapestries, to 18th- and 19th-century furniture made for the royal family.
10. 19th-Century & Modern Art

History paintings and landscapes, by local and visiting artists, dominate this part of the collection. Especially endearing are the sculptures of street urchins by Vincenzo Gemito, but the signature modern work is a complete departure – Andy Warhol’s cheerfully garish Vesuvius .

Practical Information

Choose the Museum Café for refreshment – it’s located down the arcaded corridor away from the shop in the direction of the toilets and then right; follow the signs. Public transport in Naples is not for the sensitive or inexperienced; for most, the best way to get up to the museum is to take a taxi. However there are buses from Via Toledo that run up the hill. Porta Grande via Capodimonte, Porta Piccola via Miano 2 081 749 91 11 Museum: Open 8:30am–7:30pm Tue–Sun (ticket desk closes 6:30pm); Adm €7.50; Park: Open 8am–sunset daily; Free