Museo Cappella Sansevero

Museo Cappella Sansevero Review

Off Vicolo Domenico Maggiore at the beginning of Via Francesco de Sanctis, this chapel/museum has an intriguing sculpture collection. The chapel itself was founded in 1590 by Prince Giovan Francesco di Sangro, fulfilling a vow to the Virgin after recovery from an illness (his statue is on the second niche to the left.) Over the generations the simple sanctuary became a family mausoleum, with statues of the various princes lining the walls.

Most of the building work here is due to restructuring in the mid-18th century under the seventh Sangro di Sansevero prince, Raimondo—a larger-than-life figure, popularly believed to have signed a pact with the devil allowing him to plumb nature's secrets. Prince Raimondo commissioned the young sculptor Giuseppe Sammartino to create numerous works, including the chapel's centerpiece: the remarkable Veiled Christ, which has a seemingly transparent marble veil some say was produced using a chemical formula provided by the prince. If you have the stomach for it, take a look in the crypt, where some of the anatomical experiments conducted by the prince are gruesomely displayed.