My paper focuses on the church of San Gennaro, a little building inside the site of Capodimonte. The studies on this church consider its construction contemporary to the building of the royal palace and to the planning of the gardens promoted by Carlo di Borbone, as the date 1745 in the inscription on the facade would seem to prove. Through new documents I’ll try to prove that this little religious building was erected before as a chapel for the farmers. The church became part of the Reale Bosco di Capodimonte just after the purchase of the land by the Casa Reale and in that occasion it was modernized by Ferdinando Sanfelice. He was one of the few neapolitans architects who worked for Carlo di Borbone and had a starring role in the organization of the Royal property of Capodimonte. My paper analyzes the topics connected to the construction and reuse of this little religious building in relation to the contribution of Ferdinando Sanfelice in other works builded inside Capodimonte. The considerations will be extended to the international context because this ‘episode’ lends itself to comparison to some similar Baroque and late Baroque drawings confirming the educated and not provincial character of one of the greatest protagonists of the eighteenth century Neapolitan architecture.
Il saggio appunta l’attenzione sulla chiesa di San Gennaro, un piccolo edificio che si trova all’interno del complesso di Capodimonte. Gli studi condotti sinora collocano la sua edificazione negli anni quaranta, come attesterebbe l’iscrizione apposta sulla facciata nel 1745, realizzata da Ferdinando Sanfelice per Carlo di Borbone. Attraverso nuove fonti documentarie si proverà a correggere questa datazione, collocando questo edificio tra le fabbriche già esistenti all’interno di uno dei fondi acquistati dal sovrano per dare vita al comprensorio reale. Come noto, proprio dopo l’acquisto, Ferdinando Sanfelice si occupò di varie opere, tra le quali nel 1745 dell’innovazione di questa chiesetta al fine di integrarla all’interno del parco, come attesta la già menzionata iscrizione. I temi connessi alla realizzazione e al riuso di questa chiesetta saranno approfonditi in relazione al contributo fornito da Sanfelice all’interno di Capodimonte. Partendo dalla chiesa di San Gennaro, si cercherà poi di allargare le riflessioni al contesto internazionale poiché questo episodio ben si presta al confronto con alcuni impianti simili barocchi e tardo barocchi, confermando il profilo colto e mai provinciale di uno dei più straordinari protagonisti dell’architettura napoletana del Settecento
La chiesa di San Gennaro nel sito reale di Capodimonte
MARIA GABRIELLA Pezone
2021
Abstract
My paper focuses on the church of San Gennaro, a little building inside the site of Capodimonte. The studies on this church consider its construction contemporary to the building of the royal palace and to the planning of the gardens promoted by Carlo di Borbone, as the date 1745 in the inscription on the facade would seem to prove. Through new documents I’ll try to prove that this little religious building was erected before as a chapel for the farmers. The church became part of the Reale Bosco di Capodimonte just after the purchase of the land by the Casa Reale and in that occasion it was modernized by Ferdinando Sanfelice. He was one of the few neapolitans architects who worked for Carlo di Borbone and had a starring role in the organization of the Royal property of Capodimonte. My paper analyzes the topics connected to the construction and reuse of this little religious building in relation to the contribution of Ferdinando Sanfelice in other works builded inside Capodimonte. The considerations will be extended to the international context because this ‘episode’ lends itself to comparison to some similar Baroque and late Baroque drawings confirming the educated and not provincial character of one of the greatest protagonists of the eighteenth century Neapolitan architecture.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
