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 3rd
STAGE
From piazzetta Nilo to via Duomo
The
straight route now continues past Piazza San Domenico at the tiny
square, piazzetta Nilo, or "largo Corpo di Napoli" as it is called.
The church of S. Angelo a Nilo and the Pignatelli palace both attract
attention. One is across from the other; the church is annexed to
the Brancaccio chapel as well as to the interior courtyard of the
Brancaccio palace, access to which is through the church, itself,
as well as from vico Donnaregina. Both ways provide a luxuriant
display of the planted and potted vegetation that adorn the arches
and loggias along the entrance to the Brancaccio library. A long
stairway of gray stone leads up to the library entrance, a 17th-century
gallery marked by marble figures that dominate the courtyard.
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Before taking up Spaccanapoli again along the stretch called S.
Biagio dei Librai, a small detour is worthwhile on the north-south
cross-street, the cardine, marked by the presence of the
statue of the Nile. That cross-street is noteworthy for a number
of interesting courtyards within the buildings. The building on
the left-hand side of via Nilo--the street leading up to via dei
Tribunali--was the residence of the illustrious humanist Antonio
Beccadelli, called "il Panormita" ; the building, itself,
is an example of the new Renaissance architecture in Naples. It
marks the transition from fortress building to true urban architecture:
Ionian columns mark the courtyard; the stables and kitchens of the
past have now given way to shops; indented gables support an ample
stone arch, and the frescoed vault of the entrance way recalls a
grand portal never built. Access to the courtyard--unfinished as
is the rest of the building--is from the entrance way with the long
ceiling and pavilion vault, adorned with the family crest and bands
of festive putti (infants and children). Returning to the
point of departure--piazzetta Nilo--this time on the street leading
to the right, via Paladino, we find (at n. 9) the courtyard of The
Saviour, annexed to the church of Gesù Vecchio. Cosimo Fanzago has
given us the majestic portal that opens into the courtyard of this
ex-Jesuit Collegio massimo. It was a project of Valeriano
and is one of the first examples in Naples of "reformist" architecture.
The site is also known as the "courtyard of the statues" from the
many busts of illustrious academics that line the courtyard on the
ground floor beneath the arches of the gallery. The building belonged
originally to Giantommaso Carafa and was acquired by the Jesuits
in 1540, who, with the intention of founding a college, expanded
the premises greatly with offerings from the faithful populace as
well as from the aristocratic families of Roberta Carafa of Stigliano
and the children of Cesare de Ponte, whose contributions are recalled
in Latin on the original plaques conserved within the courtyard.
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 From
here, there are two choices to return to Spaccanapoli: go back up
via Paladino or follow along largo San Marcellino and turn up the
small street, vicolo Santi Filippo e Giacomo, in which case
you will quickly come upon (at n. 15) the courtyards of the Carafa
d'Andria palace and the ex-monastic complex of Saints Marcellino and
Festo, currently the site of the Museum of Paleontology and some other
departments of the University of Naples. Then, following along the
narrow street, vicolo Santi Filippo e Giacomo, you come once
again to Spaccanapoli along the S. Biagio dei Librai stretch, a picturesque
and lively thoroughfare, at one time the center for book-sellers and
currently--near S. Gregorio Armeno--the center of art dedicated to
the "presepe", the traditional Neapolitan Christmas creche. From here,
there are two choices to return to Spaccanapoli: go back up via Paladino
or follow along largo San Marcellino and turn up the small street,
vicolo Santi Filippo e Giacomo, in which case you will quickly
come upon (at n. 15) the courtyards of the Carafa d'Andria palace
and the ex-monastic complex of Saints Marcellino and Festo, currently
the site of the Museum of Paleontology and some other departments
of the University of Naples. Then, following along the narrow street,
vicolo Santi Filippo e Giacomo, you come once again to Spaccanapoli
along the S. Biagio dei Librai stretch, a picturesque and lively thoroughfare,
at one time the center for book-sellers and currently--near S. Gregorio
Armeno--the center of art dedicated to the "presepe", the traditional
Neapolitan Christmas creche. Among the most interesting buildings
along the route and once that should not be missed is at n. 121; the
structure still conserves notable traces of the original medieval
structure blended with the new Renaissance one--for example, the smooth
ashlar walls and mock arcade on polygonal bases. The courtyard is
picturesque and spacious, and is a point at which a number of different
currents in art and material flow together: indeed, a lowered arch
on columns with leaf capitals separates the vestibule from the courtyard
by a rampant arch set between a hanging leaf capital on one side and,
on the other, a fluted Roman column raised on a sculpted funerary
cippus. Celan describes in minute detail the various ancient works--statues,
bas-reliefs, columns, cippi and capitals--that adorn the premises
between the courtyard and the staircase. Also, the story of the famous
horse's head is one that is suspended somewhere between myth and reality:
cast in bronzed terracotta, the head is mounted on the wall at the
back of the courtyard and, some say, is a copy of one by Donatello
that was given to Diomede Carafa by Lorenzo the Magnificent; other
sources claim that the head is all that remains of a giant equestrian
statue in bronze from the 3rd century b.c. that was placed within
the temple to Neptune (near present-day piazzetta Riario Sforza) as
a symbol of the indomitable courage of the city. |
Just beyond that (at n. 114) is the palace of the Monte di
Pietà or the Banco dei Pegni (lit. Pawn Bank), the current
seat of the Bank of Naples. The 15th-century facade of the entrance
to the chapel is at the back of the courtyard; the facade is marked
by the indented moulding of a triangular typanum that incorporates
a group of figures in marble that depict Pity (the work of Michelangelo
Naccherino) and two remarkable sculptures of praying angels (by Montani);
O Magnum pietatis is the inscription in very large letters
above the marble portal with broken centered typanum and giant Ionian
lateral pillars, followed by two niches with statues by Pietro Bernin,
respectively, of Security asleep and leaning on a column, and Charity
welcoming tired children, all set above two Latin epigraphs that explain
the activities of the Monte. The walk along the decumanus continues
with the Marigliano palace (n. 39); it is at the public center of
the ancient city and was built for Altavilla Irpina Bartolomeo di
Capua by Giovanni Donadio, known as "il Mormando". There are two wall
plaques at the entrance that recall episodes in the lives of the owners,
among which are the conspiratorial meeting of aristocrats in 1701
and the short stay on the premises by Constance, queen of Naples.
In the courtyard there is a dual staircase in tuff and stone with
tiled banisters leading to a hortus conclusus; between one
set of stairs and the other there is an epigraph decorated with maritime
symbols and a heavy chain in memory of don Pio Marigliano, fallen
for his nation in 1916. On the facade across from the portal, at the
top of the wall, there appears the bas-relief figure of a knight.
Another short detour leads to the courtyard of the Maiorani palace;
it is on a street of the same name, at n. 39. The interior courtyard
displays an interesting lowered arch on pillars of mixed style at
the beginning of the stairs. The series of arches rest directly on
octagonal supports without capitals, which feature marks this as the
only remaining example in Naples of an architectural style common
in Catalonia and on the Balearic islands. The scene is completed by
a Renaissance epigraph in Latin, a bas-relief of a saint, and various
fragments in Tuscan style. At this point, a visit to the interesting
State Archives is called for (n. 10. piazzetta Grande Archivio). The
archives are housed in one of the largest monastic complexes in the
city, the great monastery of saints Severino and Sossio; it has four
internal courtyards built to serve the needs of the many adjacent
monastic chambers that sprang up over the centuries within this island
of Benedictine power. This very intense tour finishes at via Duomo,
from which you can easily reach the seat of the bishopric, with the
chapel of San Gennaro as well as the Museum of the Treasures of San
Gennaro. |
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Photos:
Jeff Matthews |
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