The Travelling Celts

The Veiled Christ

by Michael Cameron

Naples (Napoli) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy after Rome and Milan with a population of 967,069 within the city's administrative limits as of 2017. Its province-level municipality is the third-most populous metropolitan area in Italy with a population of 3,115,320 residents, and its continuously built-up metropolitan area (that stretches beyond the boundaries of the Metropolitan City of Naples) is the second-most populous metropolitan area in Italy and one of the most densely populated cities in Europe.

First settled by Greeks in the second millennium BC, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world. In the ninth century BC, a colony known as Parthenope was established on the Island of Megaride. In the 6th century BC, it was refounded as Neápolis. The city was an important part of Magna Graecia, played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman society, and was a significant cultural centre under the Romans.

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Why Naples? Honestly to visit Pompeii (see Pompeii Blog) but the Veiled Christ, in the Capella Sansevero was also a magnet. Alas I cannot take credit for the photo included here - photography was not allowed, and in any case photographs do not do this magnificant sculpture justice.

the Veiled Christ is one of the most famous and impressive works of art in the world. It was the Patrons wish that the statue be made by Antonio Corradini. However, Corradini died in 1752 and only managed to make a terracotta scale model of the Christ, which is now preserved in the Museo di San Martino. Raimondo di Sangro appointed a young Neapolitan artist, Giuseppe Sanmartino, to make “a life-sized marble statue, representing Our Lord Jesus Christ dead, and covered in a transparent shroud carved from the same block as the statue.

Click the links below for the Naples photos and/or videos