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Wall Street Journal
4 days ago
- Wall Street Journal
A Savvy Travelers Guide to Italy's Other Great Art City
Art-loving visitors to Italy tend to follow a well-trodden path through Rome and Florence. But during high season, lines at the Vatican and the Uffizi Galleries can be punishingly long. By the time you finally catch a glimpse of Caravaggio's 'Bacchus,' you might be in need of a drink yourself. There is an alternative. The grand port city of Naples—though best known now for pizza, the mafia and as a launching place for passengers to Capri and the Amalfi coast—has also been a Mediterranean cultural mecca for millennia, back to the days of the ancients. A mere day trip away, you can find historic treasures in the ruins of Pompeii, whose lavishly decorated villas were preserved when neighboring Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.—a brilliant snapshot of ancient Roman artistic refinement and taste. Nearly 2,000 years later, Naples' own surviving masterpieces still thrill. Founded in 470 B.C., it is among Europe's oldest cities, and by the 17th century, was a hotbed of artistic activity, home to painters like Caravaggio, José de Ribera and Artemisia Gentileschi. That Baroque legacy is still palpable. On a recent trip, I went in search of 'Baroque Naples,' having studied that iteration of the city in college art history classes. But once I was on the ground, it soon became clear that Naples' wonders exceed any one artistic moment. Looking down across the city and sea from my first stop, the hilltop Museo di San Martino, I immediately saw the appeal of Naples, both glorious and gritty. White sailboats dotted the bay and clusters of drab apartment towers, draped in drying laundry, climbed the inland hillsides. In between, the city spread like a carpet toward the slopes of Vesuvius in the distance. A former Carthusian monastery, San Martino is replete with treasures. What struck me most were the luxurious personal quarters of the prior, with their colored marble floors and frescoed walls and ceilings. The pope's private Vatican chambers aren't open to the public, but they certainly don't have a sea view. The city's golden age dawned in 1734 when Naples and Sicily became an independent kingdom under King Charles of Bourbon, a great-grandson of Louis XIV of France. Charles launched an immense building program, whose legacy includes royal palaces adorned with the vast art collection his mother bequeathed him. Charles also greenlighted the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum and built one of Europe's first opera houses, the Teatro San Carlo, in just eight months. 'Naples doesn't really do small,' explained Sylvain Bellenger, former director of the Museo di Capodimonte, a museum housed in a massive pink and gray palace that is just one of three built by Charles in and around Naples. (Another, Reggia di Caserta, is a Unesco World Heritage site just 30 minutes outside the city.) Even larger than the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, the Museo di Capodimonte is currently undergoing renovations—but still has 50 galleries containing enough masterpieces by the likes of Masaccio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian and Correggio to merit repeat visits. When the other galleries reopen this fall, visitors might be surprised to discover pieces by Louise Bourgeois, Andy Warhol and Candida Höfer, many referencing either Naples in general or the Capodimonte in particular. Should you choose, like me, not to venture to Pompeii, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli ably scratches an itch for antiquity. Three floors of classical sculptures are chockablock with artifacts, including the famous Farnese Hercules, acres of elaborate Roman mosaic floors and delicately painted walls brought from Herculaneum and Pompeii. One irreverent surprise: A small gallery of erotic sculptures and ancient sexual aids. (Prudes and parents, fear not: There's a warning at the entrance.) Among other niche museums worth a stop is the Museo Nazionale della Ceramica Duca di Martina, in the lush gardens of the Villa Floridiana. And the Gallerie d'Italia, whose collection ranges from the 17th century to the first decades of the 20th, has been newly installed in the circa-1940 Banco di Napoli, a boldly muscular (read: Fascist) celebration of classical architecture. Eager to check a duomo off your list? Naples has one, too. In its San Gennaro chapel's splendid treasury, a new curator is fond of mixing modern art amid the saintly relics. A show of contemporary ex-votos (on view through Sept. 30) features diminutive devotional works by artists such as Mimmo Paladino, Igor Mitoraj and Yves Klein. It occurred to me inside that I'd never seen more people conversing out loud and in public with religious paintings and sculptures than I did in Naples. Even in the offseason, visitors will want to pre-book tickets for smaller private chapels such as Sansevero, with its haunting suite of Baroque sculpture including 'The Veiled Christ' in which artist Giuseppe Sanmartino somehow summons a transparent veil out of marble. Also worth a stop: the tiny Pio Monte della Misericordia, where Caravaggio's iconic 'Seven Acts of Mercy' looms large over the high altar. In the 1990s, the city launched Le Stazioni dell'Arte, an ambitious, ongoing public art project to transform its metro stations in partnership with architects and designers like Karim Rashid and Òscar Tusquets. Since 2012, the arts foundation Made in Cloister, has provided work and exhibition spaces to promote contemporary Neapolitan artists in a 16th-century monastery that was most recently a carwash. More recently, London art dealer Thomas Dane opened his first international branch gallery in a chicly renovated 19th-century palazzo in Chiaia. 'I never expected to open [satellite] galleries,' he said. 'But…it struck me that if there was one city where artists would want to spend more time and explore, it was Naples.'
Local Italy
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Local Italy
10 inspiring Italian women you should know about
Saturday, March 8th, will be International Women's Day (or Festa della Donna in Italian). Though it's not an official national holiday in Italy, the event is recognised in the form of celebrations and parades all around the country. Besides talks, gatherings and marches, you can also expect Italian florists to work overtime this Saturday as, according to a uniquely Italian tradition, men give the women in their families yellow mimosa flowers as a token of appreciation. With just days to go until this year's Festa della Donna, we looked at 10 of the most inspiring women in Italian history – and how they left an indelible mark on the world. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1656) A true artistic pioneer, Artemisia Gentileschi was the first woman to be accepted into Florence's Art Academy (Accademia delle Arti). Despite suffering a harrowing sexual assault and enduring a brutal trial, she used her trauma as inspiration for her powerful and dramatic paintings, often depicting strong female protagonists like Judith Slaying Holofernes. Her work challenged the male-dominated art world and continues to be celebrated today as one of the finest examples of Baroque painting. A woman looks at 'Lucretia' by female Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Photo by BERTRAND GUAY / AFP Grazia Deledda (1871-1936) Born in Sardinia, Grazia Deledda became the first Italian woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926. Her novels, deeply rooted in the traditions and struggles of her homeland, tackled themes of love, sin and redemption. Despite societal constraints on female writers, she persisted in her writing career, publishing her first short story under a pseudonym before achieving international recognition. Her works are a testament to the power of storytelling in capturing cultural identity and human emotion. Rita Levi Montalcini (1909-2012) Pioneering neurobiologist Rita Levi Montalcini overcame the anti-Semitic laws of Fascist Italy to continue her research in secret. Her groundbreaking discovery of the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) earned her the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1986, revolutionising neuroscience and paving the way for the modern-day treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. In her later years, she remained active in politics and philanthropy, advocating for women's education and scientific research. From 2001 until her death, she served in the Italian Senate as a Senator for Life. Levi Montalcini lived to the age of 103. Her funeral in Turin was attended by thousands of people. Nobel laureate for medicine Rita Levi Montalcini (R) is saluted by French ambassador to Italy Jean-Marc de La Sabliere during an award ceremony on December 5th, 2008 at the French Academy in Rome. Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP Margherita Hack (1922-2013) A renowned astrophysicist and fierce advocate for science, Margherita Hack was the first woman to direct an astronomical observatory in Italy. She was famous not only for her contributions to stellar spectroscopy but also for her outspoken views on social issues. As an atheist and champion for LGBTQ+ rights, she defied conventions and inspired generations with her fearless intellect. A statue of Hack was erected in Milan in 2022 – the first in Italy dedicated to a woman of science. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) Maria Montessori was a physician, educator and humanitarian, best known for developing the so-called 'Montessori Method' – a revolutionary approach to education that fosters independence, creativity, and self-directed learning. Montessori was one of the first women in Italy to graduate with a medical degree and pioneered new teaching methods for children with special needs. Today, over 15,000 schools worldwide follow her principles, and her legacy continues to influence modern education. She was also a vocal advocate for women's rights and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799) A child prodigy fluent in multiple languages, Maria Gaetana Agnesi wrote the first comprehensive book on differential and integral calculus. She was appointed to the faculty of the University of Bologna, making her one of the first women in the world to hold a university professorship. Despite her success in mathematics, she later dedicated her life to charity, focusing on helping the poor and sick. Her mathematical legacy lives on, as she gave her name to a particular cubic plane curve – the 'Witch of Agnesi'. Teresa Mattei (1921-2013) Teresa 'Chicchi' Mattei was a fearless anti-fascist fighter during World War II and one of the youngest members of the Constituent Assembly that drafted Italy's post-war constitution. She played a pivotal role in promoting gender equality and is credited with choosing the mimosa flower as the symbol of International Women's Day in Italy, as it was a resilient flower epitomising partisans' fight. Her lifelong dedication to justice and democracy remains an inspiration for today's generations. Eleonora de Fonseca Pimentel (1752-1799) Eleonora de Fonseca Pimentel was an influential Italian poet and revolutionary who played a crucial role in the 1799 Neapolitan Revolution. Deeply influenced by the Enlightenment and the ideals of the French Revolution, she became one of the leading voices advocating for freedom and equality in Naples. As a writer and intellectual, she contributed to Monitore Napoletano – a journal that spread revolutionary ideas and rallied support for the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy in favour of a republic. Pimentel's involvement in the revolution symbolised a unique fusion of intellectualism and activism. Her commitment to these ideals ultimately led to her arrest and execution after the fall of a short-lived Neapolitan Republic, but her legacy as a fearless advocate for justice and equality endures. Samantha Cristoforetti (born in 1977) Samantha Cristoforetti is an Italian astronaut who became the first European female commander of the International Space Station during the Minerva Mission in 2022. Born in Milan, she studied mechanical engineering in Germany and trained as a fighter jet pilot in the Italian Air Force. She joined the European Space Agency in 2009 and holds the record for the longest mission by any European astronaut – 200 days in space. A UNICEF ambassador and polyglot, she is a trailblazer for women in STEM fields. Her story was featured in the 2016 documentary AstroSamantha, inspiring countless young women to follow a career in space science and exploration. Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti poses for a picture during the International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport on June 19th, 2023. Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP Nilde Iotti (1920-1999) Nilde Iotti was a trailblazing Italian politician and one of the most significant figures in post-war Italy. Born in Reggio Emilia, a stronghold of Italy's Communist movement, Iotti's career spanned decades and culminated in her becoming the first woman to hold the position of President of the Chamber of Deputies – a role she held for an unprecedented 13 years. A key figure in the Resistance against Fascism, Iotti began her political journey as a young partisan, aiding the fight against Fascist and Nazi forces during World War II. She worked as a messenger, distributing food supplies and materials to Resistance fighters. After the war, Iotti continued her political activism, becoming a founding member of the Union of Italian Women. Over time, she became one of the most powerful women in Italy's post-war politics, tirelessly advocating for gender equality, social justice and democratic reforms. A staunch defender of women's rights, Iotti worked to groundbreaking divorce and abortion laws and remained a vital voice in Italian politics until her death in 1999.
