Naples, Pio Monte della Misericordia Museum celebrates its first 50 years

In Naples, the Pio Monte della Misericordia celebrates fifty years since its opening to the public: it was December 21, 1972 when the Picture Gallery and Museum Complex of the Pio Monte della Misericordia opened its doors, and for the anniversary, on December 21, the entrance ticket will be sold at the special price of €4.00 (purchasable only at the museum’s ticket office). Those who would instead like to take advantage of the guided tours will have the opportunity to choose their preferred time (10 a.m. - 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. for a maximum of 20 people), paying a ticket of only € 6.00 that includes not only the guided tour but also admission (tickets on sale online at www.piomontedellamisericordia.it). But of course, the efforts of Pio Monte della Misericordia do not stop here, and to celebrate this anniversary, the Institution of Via Tribunali presents itself with a completely renewed visual identity, to offer the public an image in step with the times. A new logo and communication system thus represent another important change that will affect signage throughout the building over the next year. The visual identity project, realized thanks to co-financing from the Campania Region’s Museums and Libraries sector, is signed by the dotfog studio of Marialuisa Firpo, Gabriella Grizzuti and Rosanna Cianniello, who were able to reinterpret the values and constituent signs of Pio Monte, preserving intact its’identity, reconciling tradition and innovation, and interpreting the soul of the centuries-old institution, of an institution that has always been open to the city and immersed in contemporaneity. From December 21, the new website will also be online www.piomontedellamisericordia.it completely renewed, created by the agency Publi&Rolando, experts in website development according to the most cutting-edge criteria required by the web.

“Fifty years after its opening to the public,” explains Fabrizia Paternò di San Nicola, Superintendent of Pio Monte della Misericordia, “the entire museum complex, with its Quadreria, is once again opening wide with new initiatives. The challenge in the coming years is to accomplish the synthesis of charitable activities and cultural institution, becoming a modern museum. We want the Palazzo del Pio Monte della Misericordia, in addition to being a welcoming museum aimed at everyone, to be a ”place of beauty“ where children in situations of hardship live joyful experiences of beauty together with their parents, where people with physical or mental limitations enjoy the healing power of beauty, and those who come from faraway cultures find the key to dialogue with ours. This is the challenge we want to live and win thanks to every visitor.”

The 100-year history of the Pio Monte della Misericordia and the heritage of the Quadreria, in the shadow of Caravaggio ’s masterpieceThe Seven Works of Mercy, will be recounted in the proposed tour for this celebration: a special and extraordinary Neapolitan story that is still able to amaze today for its modernity.

The 50th anniversary of the Quadreria represents only the starting point of a year of celebrations, 2023, in which new initiatives dedicated to all categories of visitors will be implemented: families, young people, children, people with disabilities, and schools. Important activities and new museum services will be announced throughout the year. A new audio description path designed for a blind or visually impaired public but usable and suggestive for any visitor as well will be presented, and guide books and descriptive panels with Braille writing will be available. In addition, the Cultural Foster Care project will be expanded to further counteract child educational poverty.

The Picture Gallery of Pio Monte della Misericordia.

Also known as the “Picture Gallery,” the Quadreria is a historic apartment where the General Assembly of the Associates meets twice a year and where, every Friday, the current Government composed of seven Governors meets to define the activities and supports to be offered. Over the centuries, the Picture Gallery has been enriched with works, thanks to numerous donations, inheritances, and art collections, which were sold until 1914 to derive resources for charity. The artistic heritage from the 15th to the 21st century tells the story of this charitable institute that is intertwined with the history of Naples, between past and present. The Quadreria now consists of 160 paintings, and the collection, which is now visible to all, contains works by Francesco De Mura, Massimo Stanzione, Mattia Preti, Luca Giordano, and Andrea Vaccaro. Also on display are canvases by Jusepe de Ribera, Bernardo Cavallino, Battistello Caracciolo, Fabrizio Santafede, Giovanni Baglione, Claude Lorrain, Paolo De Matteis, and Anton Sminck van Pitloo.

It was precisely on December 21, 1972, with an important inauguration in the presence of numerous authorities, the Superintendent of Pio Monte, Tommaso Leonetti, and the then Superintendent of the Galleries of Campania, Raffaello Causa, that the Institution of Via Tribunali opened its doors for the first time and made this enormous private patrimony, admired until then only by Associates or a few scholars, visitable.

Many initiatives have involved the museum complex over the past 50 years: from the numerous restorations carried out on canvases by Caravaggio, Luca Giordano, Ribera and 99 other canvases in the collection, to the many lending operations and collaborations with many museums around the world. Since 2008, the second floor of the palace has been enriched with a new section of contemporary art to continue to tell the story of the solidarity commitment with new languages: more than 60 works have been donated by international masters such as Anish Kapoor, Mimmo Jodice, Mimmo Paladino, Joseph Kosuth, Jannis Kounellis, Francesco Clemente, Marisa Albanese, Antonio Biasiucci, Hermann Nitsch, Candida Höfer, Jan Fabre, Jimmie Durham, Gordon Douglas, Paul Thorel, Michal Rovner, Gilberto Zorio and others.

Again, the structural and plant upgrading works in 2003 were followed in 2018 by the expansion of the bookshop and the ticket office moved to Piazza Riario Sforza; in 2009 by the first computerized cataloging and updating of the patrimonial number of art objects (about 1007 objects cataloged); and then in 2020 by the important two-volume publication of the scientific catalog presenting new studies and research on the rich historical-artistic heritage of the Institution (arte’m editions).

Today the Pio Monte della Misericordia Palace has become one of the must-see stops in the historic center of Naples and is open to the public 7 days a week morning and afternoon (only on Sundays until 2:30 p.m.). The year 2022 will close with nearly 100,000 visitors. For all information: www.piomontedellamisericordia.it

Pictured: the church of Pio Monte della Misericordia. Photo by Francesco Soreca

Naples, Pio Monte della Misericordia Museum celebrates its first 50 years

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