Sansevero Chapel

At a glance

Sansevero Chapel facts that matter

Names, makers, dates, and context before the story opens up.

Italian name	Cappella Sansevero
What it is	Museum
Where	Naples, Campania
Known for	The Veiled Christ by Sanmartino, Pudicizia by Corradini, Disinganno by Queirolo and Giuseppe Salerno’s Anatomical Machines.
Period	17th-century family chapel; 18th-century Baroque transformation, 1613
Maker	Raimondo di Sangro; Giuseppe Sanmartino; Antonio Corradini; Francesco Queirolo; Giuseppe Salerno

The story

What you're looking at

Sansevero Chapel is the di Sangro family’s burial chapel, transformed in the 1740s under Raimondo di Sangro into a tightly conceived artistic programme. It contains Giuseppe Sanmartino’s 1753 Veiled Christ, together with works by Antonio Corradini, Francesco Queirolo and others; its underground Cavea displays Giuseppe Salerno’s Anatomical Machines.

A di Sangro burial chapel and coherent eighteenth-century patronage programme whose popular myths require careful correction.

Verified details

Each statement below is linked to the record or institution that supports it.

An inscription on the chapel’s main door records Alessandro di Sangro’s 1613 dedication of the temple to the Virgin as a burial place for himself and his family. Its present arrangement was largely created when Raimondo di Sangro reorganised it from the 1740s.¹

Giuseppe Sanmartino’s 1753 Veiled Christ is a life-size marble sculpture whose shroud was specified in the commission as being made from the same block as the figure.²

The museum rejects the legend that Raimondo di Sangro produced the veil through alchemical marblisation: contemporary documents identify it as marble carved by Sanmartino.³

The Anatomical Machines are two eighteenth-century anatomical studies by Giuseppe Salerno. Their vessel systems are reconstructions made with several materials, including beeswax and dyes.⁴

Sansevero Chapel is within the UNESCO World Heritage property Historic Centre of Naples, inscribed in 1995 under criteria (ii) and (iv). It is not separately inscribed.⁵

Sources and citations (5)

Museo Cappella SanseveroHistory of the ChapelHistoryRead source
Museo Cappella SanseveroVeiled ChristStatueRead source
Museo Cappella SanseveroThe legend of the veilLegend correctionRead source
Museo Cappella SanseveroAnatomical MachinesMachinesRead source
UNESCO World Heritage CentreHistoric Centre of NaplesProperty recordRead source

Plan your visit

Before you go

Booking: Walk-up friendly
Maker: Raimondo di Sangro; Giuseppe Sanmartino; Antonio Corradini; Francesco Queirolo; Giuseppe Salerno
Period: 17th-century family chapel; 18th-century Baroque transformation · 1613

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