Until 16 February 2014, the Rome Foundation Museum, in the Palazzo Sciarra headquarters, will host the exhibition Il Tesoro di Napoli, and for the first time such a large number of masterpieces from the most important goldsmith's art collection in the world, alongside documents originals, paintings, drawings, sacred furnishings, will be exhibited outside the walls of Naples..
The exhibition will offer the opportunity to explore the priceless artistic and cultural value of the treasure of San Gennaro from a scientific point of view.
The exhibition, curated by Paolo Jorio, director of the San Gennaro Treasure Museum, and Ciro Paolillo, expert gemologist and professor of the history, economy and production of jewelery at the La Sapienza University of Rome, with the advice of Franco Recanatesi, it will be a unique event of great historical and artistic importance: for the first time, over 90 works from one of the most important goldsmith's art collections in the world will be presented outside the walls of the Neapolitan city alongside original documents, paintings, drawings sacred furnishings.
The exhibition will offer the opportunity to explore the priceless artistic and cultural value of the Treasure of San Gennaro from a scientific point of view to rediscover, hand down and relive through a journey through time, Naples and its tutelary deity, its history, its artists and above all the priceless heritage that has accumulated over seven centuries.
With twenty-five million devotees spread throughout the world, San Gennaro is the most famous and well-known Catholic saint in the world. His is a very long story closely linked to Naples, between devotion and prejudice, faith and disbelief, up to a very strong identification between the patron saint and the conscience of a people periodically threatened by natural disasters and historical events.
The exhibition at Palazzo Sciarra will develop according to a scientific path without excluding an emotional approach, to describe what was the evolution of the cult of San Gennaro in Naples, the reason why the Treasury belongs to a secular institution and how the Neapolitan goldsmith's art perfected over the centuries, giving life to most of the masterpieces on display.
To help understand the impact of this appointment, it is enough to say that the Treasure of San Gennaro, formed through seven hundred years of donations from popes, emperors, kings, but also popular ex votos, has a historical value greater than that of the Crown Jewels of England and the Tsar of Russia, as revealed by research published in 2010 and carried out by a team of gemologists coordinated by Prof. Ciro Paolillo, curator of the exhibition, who over a three-year period carried out in-depth studies on some of the precious jewels donated to the Saint and which will be exhibited in Rome.
Furthermore, contrary to what happened to other dynastic and ecclesiastical heritages, the Treasury has remained intact from its birth to the present day, without ever undergoing plundering and without its precious being sold to finance wars, in a process of continuous acquisition and expansion .
“I believe it is of fundamental importance to disseminate knowledge of the priceless heritage that our country possesses, the conservation and enhancement of which represent a strategic asset of the cultural market. And it is precisely for the commitment in this sector that the Rome Foundation, through the activity carried out by the Rome-Art-Museums Foundation, has become over the years a point of reference for the encounter between demand and supply of culture in the Eternal City" , declares Prof. Avv. Emmanuele FM Emanuele, President of the Rome Foundation. "The exhibition dedicated to the Treasure of San Gennaro" - continues Prof. Avv. Emanuele - "is fully part of the cultural project promoted by our Institution, which has as its objective the dissemination of art in all its manifestations, as element of social growth. This attention to the relationship between culture and society represents the trait d'union between the activity carried out by the Foundation and the Museum of San Gennaro, which has led to the creation of this important exhibition event, allowing the public to admire, for the first time, works that due to their preciousness and their strong identity connotation had never been exhibited outside the walls of Naples".
“Each work of art belonging to the Treasure of San Gennaro”, affirms Paolo Jorio, “expresses not only its own intrinsic artistic richness, the result of the incomparable mastery of sculptors, silversmiths, engravers, welders, (as the assemblers of the time were called), capable of creating masterpieces of rare beauty with technical knowledge and creativity, but it also tells the extraordinary story of a people and its millenary civilization".
“A narration – continues Paolo Jorio – which puts the Neapolitan people on the same level as the European rulers who, across the board and secularly, paid homage to San Gennaro and donated priceless masterpieces to Naples”.
The exhibition itinerary will revolve around the two most extraordinary masterpieces of the Treasury: the Necklace of San Gennaro, in gold, silver and precious stones, created by Michele Dato in 1679 and the Mitre, in gilded silver, 3326 diamonds, 164 rubies, 198 emeralds and 2 garnets, created by Matteo Treglia in 1713, whose 300th anniversary is being celebrated this year.
The Necklace of San Gennaro is one of the most precious jewels in the world and its history is inextricably intertwined with the path of the constant devotion paid to the Saint by the city and by the rulers over the centuries. In 1679 the Deputies decide to use some jewels (thirteen large solid gold links to which crosses studded with sapphires and emeralds are hung) to create a magnificent ornament for the bust, giving a mandate to Michele Dato, who was joined by other craftsmen, to allow the realization of such a challenging piece in just five months.
Currently the necklace also includes other jewels of different workmanship and dating and of illustrious origins: a cross donated in 1734 by Charles of Bourbon, a cross offered by Queen Maria Amalia of Saxony, a three-piece ciappa with diamonds and emeralds, a cross of diamonds and sapphires from 1775 donated by Maria Carolina of Austria, a half-moon-shaped brooch from 1799 donated by the Duchess of Casacalenda, a cross and a brooch in diamonds and chrysolites offered by Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy and other objects as well.
A curious detail is that in 1933 Maria Josè, wife of Umberto II of Savoy, found herself visiting the Chapel of San Gennaro privately and having brought nothing with her to donate, she slipped off the ring she was wearing offering it to the Saint. This royal gift now finds its place on the necklace.
Napoleon himself, who plundered and stole everywhere, when he landed in Naples not only did not take anything, but the only case in history, he even donated. Giuseppe Bonaparte, in fact, when he entered Naples in 1806, on the advice of his brother, donated a cross of diamonds and emeralds of rare beauty which the Deputation then wanted to include among the jewels donated by the sovereigns that make up the priceless collar of San Gennaro. Even Napoleon's brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, who had married the beautiful Carolina Bonaparte, followed the suggestion of the French emperor and wanted to donate a gold and silver monstrance with precious stones in 1808. Both masterpieces will be exhibited in the Rome exhibition. The arrival of the French in Naples is testified by the only known iconography: a painting by the French Hoffman, made in 1800 and recovered by the Deputation in Paris, where the main altar of the Cathedral stands out, on which the French troops stand threatening and armed, commanded by Championet and Mc Donalds, who "demand" that San Gennaro performs the miracle of liquefaction in front of the people. This painting too will be exhibited in Rome, like the painting on San Gennaro, created by Solimena in 1707, an authentic chromatic masterpiece, the most famous in the world because since that year all the images of the patron saint of Naples have been taken from this painting.
The Mitre, whose 300th anniversary of its creation is celebrated this year, was commissioned by the Deputation to be worn by the bust during the procession of the festivities in April 1713. It sees the light in the Antico Borgo Orefici, wanted by the Angevin sovereigns , a real forge of talents, including the author: the master goldsmith Matteo Treglia. The value of the miter is enormous, both as regards the materiality of the object and for the strong symbology with which it is imbued.
3964 precious stones including diamonds, rubies and emeralds adorn the Miter, according to a tradition of construction of ecclesiastical objects linked to the symbolism of the stones: the emerald represented the union of the sacredness of the Saint with the emblem of eternity and power, the rubies the blood of martyrs and diamonds the symbol of unassailable faith.
Furthermore, the stones tell another fascinating story. In fact, it has been discovered that some come from ancient quarries in Latin America. As Ciro Paolillo states: “Thanks to the dedication of Treglia, today we are faced with one of the most beautiful collections of emeralds of the ancient South American peoples existing in the world and for this reason these stones acquire a value, not only for their preciousness but also for their story".
The exhibition in Rome will also offer the opportunity to discover other treasures such as, for example, the Cross in silver and coral from 1707, a gift from the Spera family, which bears witness to the widespread use of coral in Naples during the Baroque period to silver, both in the secular and religious fields.
The Chalice in gold, rubies, emeralds, diamonds by the court goldsmith Michele Lofrano, commissioned by Ferdinand of Bourbon and made in 1761. The Monstrance in silver and rubies (1808) donated as an act of devotion to the patron saint by Gioacchino Murat to his arrival in the city at the suggestion of Napoleon. The bejeweled ciborium in gold, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds offered by King Ferdinand II in 1831. The monstrance in gold, precious stones, beads, enamels (1837), a splendid example of a revival of Baroque models in an object with characters now neoclassical. The monstrance was given by Maria Theresa of Austria on the occasion of her wedding with Ferdinand II. The chalice in pure gold (1849), donated by Pope Pius IX in 1849 to thank the Neapolitans after being hosted in asylum due to the Mazzinian riots in Rome, is one of the few of non-Neapolitan manufacture having been made by the goldsmith Valadier in Rome. The Episcopal Cross in gold, emeralds and diamonds, donated by King Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy on 23 November 1878 on their first visit to Naples after their assumption to the throne, to pay homage to the patron saint of the city thus giving the Chapel of the Treasury a cross in diamonds and very pure emeralds and with gold lace. Finally, the Pyx in gold, coral and malachite (1931), made by the Ascione family of Torre del Greco and donated by Umberto di Savoia on 5 November 1931 when he and his wife José moved to Naples.
The two Splendors are a work of exquisite Baroque taste, so called precisely because of the magnificence and grandeur of their dimensions (370 cm in height), the work of the silversmith Filippo del Giudice based on a design by Bartolomeo Granucci (1744); donated by King Charles III of Bourbon and Queen Maria Amalia of Saxony, which precede the balustrade of the High Altar.
In the round, cherubs on the globe and the six virtues: Faith (the chalice), Hope (the anchor) and Charity (woman nursing a child). Three allegories on the other candlestick correspond to the three theological virtues which perhaps exalt the merits of Charles of Bourbon, who contributed with the offer of two thousand ducats. These are the three allegories: Fortitude (woman with helmet on head, shield on arm and spear in hand), Mansuetudine (woman with lamb), Good Government (woman holding the globe). In the documents it is clear that the Splendors were donated by Charles III of Bourbon and Queen Maria Amalia of Saxony and commissioned by the Deputation itself, without ever specifying the precise names of any deputy.
THE TREASURE OF NAPLES. The masterpieces of the Museum of San Gennaro
Rome, Rome Museum Foundation - Palazzo Sciarra (via Marco Minghetti, 22)
Until February 16 2014
