Naples, San Gennaro church in Capodimonte reopens after 50 years, redecorated by Calatrava

In Naples, the church of San Gennaro in the Real Bosco di Capodimonte, redecorated by architect Santiago Calatrava, has been reopened to the public after being closed for 50 years. The church had been built in 1745 by architect and stage designer Ferdinando Sanfelice at the behest of Charles of Bourbon, and Calatrava’s intervention is intended as a tribute to the “light of Naples” and local artistic craftsmanship. The Spanish architect’s work completely reinterprets the space, from the stained glass windows to the ceiling decorated with porcelain stars, to the niches with porcelain designs and installations inspired by the values of the Real Bosco di Capodimonte, with new lighting and furniture: San Leucio’s precious silks as altar vestments and porcelain vases and candelabras that Calatrava produced ad hoc for the chapel, made during workshops with students and master craftsmen from the Caselli Rare Institute - Real Fabbrica di Capodimonte.

“You didn’t go very far to see the wonders,” Calatrava commented, “you just had to open your eyes around you in the Real Bosco di Capodimonte, a bit like in the Canticle of the Creatures, for the birds, the bushes and the leaves. After that, we wanted to choose sacred motifs, the Cross that is constantly repeated both in the niches, silk vestments, tabernacles and even the starry sky of the Chapel. There are many references to great works, to the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua or the Baptistery in Ravenna, or even in the stained glass windows, a simple but essential language that can be understood even by children, because if we do not become children we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. All the decorations are displayed with great respect for architect Sanfelice’s composition, it was a challenge for all of us to give complementary harmonious responses with this extraordinary work that we can bring back to a new life in a way that is understandable for our times.”

“It is always a pleasure to return to Naples, to return to Capodimonte,” Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said instead. “The restoration of the church of San Gennaro is an extraordinary experiment that mixes contemporary art and baroque in an unprecedented way. For a long time we thought that it was not possible to include contemporary art in Italy’s historic cultural heritage. I thank the architect Calatrava for this beautiful gift and the quality of the works that have made our country richer and more beautiful. This experience will have to show us the way.”

“Calatrava brings to the church of San Gennaro in the Bosco di Capodimonte,” says museum director Sylvain Bellenger, “a decoration of great elegance with a deep spirituality between Virgil and Dante. Now it reopens with ’its new clothes’ of porcelain, silk, glass a church closed for fifty years.”

Pictured: the church of San Gennaro after Calatrava’s intervention. Photo Armando Benestante

Naples, San Gennaro church in Capodimonte reopens after 50 years, redecorated by Calatrava

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