We were unsure whether or not to publish this post, given that the room where the precious artifacts of the sculptor Domenico Napoletano (1465 - 1538) are exhibited, has a two-step threshold that makes it difficult, if not impossible for people to access in wheelchair, especially heavier electronic ones. Then we thought that the work is of such beauty and intensity that it is right in any case to give an account of it to our "followers"; moreover, having written to the director of the Museum of San Martino, in Naples, we hope sooner or later to receive some feedback and to see the realization of that small work that will make the hall accessible. What are we talking about? Better to leave the word to the board at the beginning of the exhibition, which, it must be said, is permanent: It was 1964 when, during the works in the church of Sant'Eligio al Mercato, destroyed by the American bombing of 1943, fragments in terracotta depicting faces, clothes, plant motifs and architectural elements were found in the walls of the Cappella dei Lani. Renaissance sources allow us to attribute them to the decorative apparatus made by Domenico Napoletano for the Cona placed on the back wall, behind the altar, and to the lunettes of the side walls of the chapel dedicated to San Ciriaco, protector of the guild of butchers (the lani) . The discovery of the signature and the date on a fragment of the Nativity certifies its completion in 1517. The reconstruction of the 1072 pieces found, only part of the original complex, reveals that it must have been the largest work in polychrome terracotta of the Southern Renaissance. Despite the shortcomings, the theme of the whole can be recognized: the prophecy of the birth of Christ and the promise of redemption. The text continues by telling how the works were removed, according to the regulations of the Council of Trent, because they were damaged by various earthquakes and subsequently, between 1767 and 1776, buried during the renovation of the church by Ferdinando Fuga. What we see exhibited today is the result of a long restoration work and tells of a hypothesis of reconstruction of the message of the representation, very suggestive despite the large amount of material that was destroyed. This graph represents this assumption:
This is the hall that houses the exhibition and this is the threshold of two steps, which are higher than they appear here:
We hope that this minimal obstacle, this minimal architectural barrier, can soon be removed, together with the identical one in the room opposite. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL !!!
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