If You Only See One Sculpture in Naples, Make it This One

Some 650,000 people every year visit the Veiled Christ at the Chapel of Sansevero in Naples, making it the most popular site in the city. 

In 1753, 33-year-old Neapolitan artist and sculptor Giuseppe Sanmartino carved the Veiled Christ from a single block of white marble at the request of scientist and alchemist Raimondo di Sangro, seventh Prince of Sansevero, as part of the nobleman’s efforts to fill the chapel with marble sculptures by the best artists of the period. But Sanmartino’s work stood out above the rest, and would go on to be described as one of the greatest sculptures of all time. (Not too shabby for a project that some sources claim took the young Sanmartino only three and a half months to finish.) 

Over the centuries, the marble veil’s delicate draping over the suffering face of Jesus beneath it became the stuff of legend. Early visitors were awed by its realism; many came to believe that an actual veil had been laid over the sculpture and that di Sangro, the prince, had alchemically transformed the fabric into marble. Evidence showed this wasn’t the case, but by commissioning and paying for Sanmartino’s artwork, you might say the prince made another kind of magic happen (and on rapid turnaround, too). 

Even the Neoclassical master Antonio Canova fell under the sculpture’s spell; various museums note that he attempted to purchase the work during his stay in Naples. Legend has it that it would have taken him 10 years to produce a sculpture of similar quality. 

Today, hundreds of daily visitors must book in advance to see this incredible artwork, which stands at the center of the single longitudinal nave in the Sansevero Chapel. — Sabina Castelfranco

If you go

Sansevero Chapel Museum
Via Francesco de Sanctis 19/21, Naples
Website