Welcome back! We are always happy when we can report some positive news, especially when it comes to Naples, our city. This month of May saw the inauguration of the new Naples headquarters of the Gallerie d'Italia (*), the meritorious cultural project created by Banca Intesa San Paolo that we can summarize with the words taken from their website (https://www.gallerieditalia.com/content/gdi/it/homepage/le-gallerie-d-italia/il-progetto.html): The Gallerie d'Italia are in the heart of Milan, Naples, Turin and Vicenza. Collections and exhibitions are housed in prestigious buildings, datable between the 17th and 19th centuries and today returned to the community with careful and ambitious restorations. Masterpieces of art within architectural masterpieces that will leave you speechless. Four museums in the heart of the cities where you can get lost among permanent collections and temporary exhibitions, in buildings rich in history and beauty. Four exhibition itineraries open to the territory with dedicated itineraries accessible to all. The first Neapolitan headquarters of Gallerie d'Italia was Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, in Via Toledo 185, and we talked about it in one of our first posts (Naples: at the home of the sovereigns - 16 August 2017); the new headquarters was created in the former Banco di Napoli building, in Via Toledo 177, built in 1940 by the architect Marcello Piacentini on the occasion of the 4th centenary of the Neapolitan banking institution (1539 - 1939). It must be said that the transformation work of this imposing architectural work was truly excellent; the huge hall on the ground floor has been used for temporary exhibitions, the first and second floors are dedicated to the permanent collections of works owned by Banca Intesa. In particular, the Neapolitan art from the 17th to the 20th century is exhibited on the first floor, with the absolute masterpiece of the Intesa San Paolo collections, the Martyrdom of Sant'Orsola by Caravaggio:
On the second floor, as we will see later, there is a collection of Attic and Magna Graecia ceramics, as well as an important selection of works from the twentieth century. From our point of view, that of accessibility, the situation is truly excellent: a walkway at the entrance to the building, an elevator to reach the ticket office, large lifts connecting the various floors, equipped toilets on both the first and second floors. floor. But let's start taking a look at the impressive temporary exhibition inaugurated on 21 May and which will remain open until 25 September 2022. It is about: Fragility and Strength. XIX Edition of the Restituzioni program, the two-year program for the protection and enhancement of the national artistic heritage that Intesa Sanpaolo has been conducting for over thirty years in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture (http://www.restituzioni.com/). The results of the long season of restorations that involved 87 groups of works for a total of over 200 artifacts, selected by the scientific committee and Intesa Sanpaolo together with 54 ministerial bodies in charge of protection (Superintendencies, Regional Directions of Museums and autonomous Museums are presented to the public ) and 81 proprietary bodies, including archaeological sites, public and diocesan museums, churches and places of worship [...]. For the first time, all of the Italian regions were involved in the program, which thus fully consecrates its national dimension. Some pictures of the façade, the bookshop, the "laminated" corridor and the halls:
And now let's move on to the works object of the Restituzioni (Returns). We will find everything, paintings, sculptures, archaeological finds, mosaics and we will show them to you in an absolutely random order:
After visiting the Restituzioni exhibition, we go up to the first floor to immerse ourselves in Neapolitan art from the seventeenth to the twentieth century; some pictures:
We then go up to the second floor, where the sections dedicated respectively to the art of the '900 and the Attic and Magna Graecia ceramics await us:
The Intesa San Paolo collection of Attic and Magna Graecia ceramics is made up of over five hundred finds from Ruvo di Puglia and produced between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. in Puglia or Lucania or imported from Athens. The precious painted vases were acquired as part of the Intesa San Paolo patrimony in the 1990s. Kept in Vicenza in the warehouse attached to the Gallerie d'Italia, they have been transferred to Naples in the new location, where they are exhibited in their entirety for the first time.
Thus ends our visit to the newly inaugurated headquarters of the Gallerie d'Italia in Naples. We have tried to illustrate it with a small part of the things that are exposed there; the commitment is to keep you updated on the new temporary exhibitions and on all the activities that the structure will propose to the public.
Logistic tip: being in Via Toledo, just walk a few meters and take Via Santa Brigida to find one of the temples of Neapolitan catering:
Michelasso (the toilet is small):
Via Santa Brigida 14/16, Napoli
+39 08118658804 / +39 3421689562
(*) symbol indicating the presence of toilets equipped for the disabled