Cappella Sansevero
The chapel's true name, Santa Maria della Pietà or Pietatella, comes from the apparently miraculous "Pietà" statue which can be seen above the altar.
Built in 1590 by Giovan Francesco di Sangro, the building was converted into a family burial chapel by his son Alessandro in 1608. Its current design was carried out at the request of Prince Raimondo di Sangro in the eighteenth century.
A man of many interests and talents, Raimondo di Sangro turned the chapel into a temple of masonic iconography. Monuments of note are La Pudicizia (right) by Di Antonio Corradini, Il Disinganno by Francesco Queirolo, the altar relief (Deposizione) by Francesco Celebrano and, in the centre of the nave, The Cristo Velato (Veiled Christ, 1753, below) by Giuseppe Sanmartino. In the crypt are two cadavers (below right) , which I was told were the results of some of the prince's experiments.
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The Prince
The seventh Prince of Sansevero was born in 1710 into a noble and ancient family that went back to the time of Charlemagne. Raimondo was a friend and close aide to King Charles IV of Naples, for whom he invented a water-proof cape to protect him from the rain while hunting. In 1744 he distinguished himself at the command of a regiment during the battle of Velletri against the Austrians. During his military command he built a cannon out of lightweight materials which had a longer range than the standard ones of the time, and wrote a military treatise on the employment of infantry for which he was praised by Frederick II of Prussia.
His real interests, however, were the studies of alchemy, mechanics and the sciences in general. He invented an hydraulic device that could pump water to any height; an "eternal flame", using chemical compounds of his own invention; a carriage with wooden horses which, driven by an internal mechanical system, could travel on both land and water; a printing press which could print different colours in a single impression.
The Prince spoke many european languages, as well as Arabic and Hebrew. He was a friend of many illustrious men of his era, like Genovesi, and knew the greatest european scientifc scholars to whom he used to correspond on the progress of his research and the results of his discoveries. He was head of the Neapolitan masonic lodge until he was excommunicated by the Church, but Pope Benedict XIV soon revoked it, realizing that the accusations of heresy against him were the product of slander and envy from the Prince's detractors.
The last years of his life were dedicated to embellishing the Chapel with marble works from the greatest artists of the time, including Corradini, Queirolo and Sammartino, who sculpted the different statues. But Raimondo did not just limit himself to commissioning the works; he also personally selected the marble, suggested techniques and subjects for each work, and decided the location of the masterpieces, with the aim of making the Chapel the centre of Neapolitan Baroque sculpture, and leaving behind him a cryptic and allegorical message. He died in 1771.