Two masterpieces by Diego Velázquez Immaculate Conception e Saint John the Evangelist on the island of Patmos, coming from National Gallery London, flanked by two other paintings depicting the Immaculate Conception they will be exhibited at the Gallerie d'Italia in Naples: one is by Paolo Finoglio, coming from the Franciscan convent of San Lorenzo Maggiore in Naples and the other by Battistello Caracciolo preserved in the church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Roccadaspide, in Cilento.
The exhibition of these two masterpieces from the master's first Sevillian production allows us to retrace the echoes of Caravaggio's naturalism, underlining the importance for the artist's training of importing works created by Caravaggio and his followers into Seville, as well as remembering the Sevillian master's stays in the capital of the Viceroyalty.
14th edition of the Illustrious Guest, review curated by Intesa Sanpaolo
The exposure 'Velázquez. A great sign represents a new chapter of the review The Illustrious Guest, curated and promoted by Intesa Sanpaolo, which since 2015 has been exhibiting notable works on temporary loan from prestigious Italian and international museums in its Gallerie d'Italia museums and in the Turin skyscraper. With this appointment, The Illustrious Guest reaches its 14th edition. The arrival of the works from the National Gallery in London is part of the relationship of exchange and collaboration with the prestigious British museum, which on the occasion of its bicentenary is dedicating the exhibition "The Last Caravaggio" to the work from 18 April to 21 July 2024 The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula on loan from Intesa Sanpaolo.
Michael Coppola, General Director of Gallerie d'Italia, declares: «Two masterpieces by Velázquez from the National Gallery welcomed in Naples, while our Caravaggio celebrates the two hundredth anniversary of the prestigious English museum in London, is an extraordinary circumstance born from a long bond of friendship, exchange and sharing. This initiative highlights the recognition of the Bank's role as a major international cultural player, confirming the Gallerie d'Italia among the most open and dynamic museums in all of Europe.»
The paintings are displayed in the room dedicated to the first naturalistic season between Rome and Naples, where the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula. The exceptional loan of Velázquez's two early paintings offers the starting point for a reconsideration of the Sevillian master's passages in Naples and, more generally, of the figurative exchanges between Spanish and Neapolitan painting in the first half of the seventeenth century.
Velàzquez's stays in Naples
Velázquez's presence in Naples falls within the context of the master's two Italian stays: the first, motivated by study reasons, between the summer of 1629 and the end of 1630; The second one, longer and officially linked to his role as superintendent of the works of art of the royal residences, between January 1649 and June 1651. The painter's first visit to Naples is attested by a payment of 154 scudi that Velázquez collected by going in person to the Banco di San Giacomo, i.e. in the same place that is now the Neapolitan headquarters of Intesa Sanpaolo's Gallerie d'Italia.
