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You might assume that all the greatest sculptures in Italy are by Michelangelo or Bernini, and that you'll find them in the galleries of Rome and Florence. But you'd be wrong. One of the most beautiful, moving works of art in Italy is hidden away in a very unusual chapel in Naples.

The isn't easy to find. There are no signs, and we spend a while walking in circles in the narrow streets near Spaccanapoli, before finally asking a local for directions. We buy our tickets at the ticket office, and then take shelter from the rain in an unremarkable looking building down the road - the Cappella Sansevero.

The chapel doesn't look like anything special from the outside, but when you enter, you find yourself in a world of dramatic marble statues, baroque grandeur, and alchemical symbolism. Visitors are drawn not by religious motives, but by a love of art, and perhaps a bit of morbid curiosity. As soon as we enter and see the crowd gathered around a statue in the middle of the room, we realise that this is no ordinary chapel.

The centrepiece of the chapel is the Cristo Velato ("Veiled Christ"), the work of the 18th century sculptor Giuseppe Sanmartino. This striking marble sculpture of the dead Christ is almost unsettling in its realism. A marble veil is draped over the drawn, suffering face of Christ, and ripples over his entire body. It is a testament to the skill of the sculptor - and the eccentric reputation of the prince who commissioned the sculpture - that many 18th century visitors refused to believe the veil could be made of ordinary marble. For centuries it was believed that Prince Raimondo di Sangro had used alchemy to transform cloth into marble.

There's no evidence to suggest that the Cristo Velato is made out of anything other than marble. It is the creation of a supremely talented sculptor, not a magician. But as you walk around the statue and look at the details, from the outline of Christ's ribcage to the creases on the marble couch, you can understand why so many visitors were convinced that it must be more than mere art. Seeing the Cristo Velato in person is a deeply moving experience, regardless of your faith or artistic tastes. It's impossible to gaze at the face of Christ without reflecting on the nature of human suffering, while marvelling at what one man can achieve with a simple block of marble.

There are many more statues decorating the Cappella Sansevero - representations of virtues including Divine Love, Self-Control, Religious Zeal, and even Sweetness of the Marital Yoke. While they are not as impressive as the Cristo Velato, they're an intriguing reflection of Raimondo's unconventional beliefs. The pelican at the feet of the woman in Sweetness of the Marital Yoke may symbolise the philosopher's stone, or a kind of apparatus used by alchemists. It could just be a pelican, but given the prince's passion for alchemy, it seems more likely that the bird has a deeper meaning. After all, even the pattern on the floor of the chapel is symbolic - it's a labyrinth that represents the difficulty of attaining knowledge.

These sculptures may be unconventional, but they're nothing compared to the bodies in the basement. We descend a narrow staircase and are confronted with the grisly sight of two human bodies. A stripped down skeleton is one thing, but the body of a pregnant woman with the veins and arteries exposed is quite another. Some visitors are morbidly fascinated by the bodies - wiry corpses with bulging eyes - and push to the front to get a closer look. For others it's too much, and my squeamish companion gives the skeletons a brief glance before hurrying upstairs.

According to legend, Raimondo used two of his servants for gruesome scientific experiments, injecting their veins and arteries with a special hardening substance that would ultimately kill them. But while Raimondo certainly carried out some experiments, solidifying the veins of his servants was not one of them. Although the bones of the skeletons are real, modern research has concluded that the blood vessels are actually made of wire and coloured wax. Depending on your perspective, this revelation is either a let-down or a relief, downgrading the models from "sinister and sadistic" to "a bit macabre".

Naples is full of curious sights, from a lecherous statue of a Nile god to a Maradona shrine, and the Cappella Sansevero certainly ranks among the oddest. Yet when I think of my trip to Naples, it's not the skeletons I remember, but the face beneath the veil.

Alexandra Turney works for Through Eternity Tours. The Cappella Sansevero can be visited as part of a private tour of Naples with Through Eternity.

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From the sublime to the macabre: the Cappella Sansevero in Naples

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You might assume that all the greatest sculptures in Italy are by Michelangelo or Bernini, and that you'll find them in the galleries of Rome and Florence. But you'd be wrong. One of the most beautiful, moving works of art in Italy is hidden away in a very unusual chapel in Naples.

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Gli Scavi di Pompei, Oplontis, Stabia e l'Antiquarium di Boscoreale faranno apertura straordinaria il 1 maggio 2017.

In occasione della Festa dei Lavoratori, il 1 maggio 2017, gli Scavi di Pompei saranno aperti in via straordinaria.

Infatti, generalmente il sito è chiuso in questa giornata, ma considerato l'enorme afflusso di turisti che sta "invadendo" Napoli ed i dintorni dal periodo di Pasqua, è stato trovato l'accordo con i lavoratori e gli scavi saranno aperti. Non solo, perché si potranno visitare anche i siti di Oplontis, Stabia e l'Antiquarium di Boscoreale.

Sicuramente sarà molto visitata anche la nuova mostra Pompei e i Greci, in cui sono esposti oltre 600 reperti molto importanti. Inoltre, secondo le stime, più della metà dei turisti parlerà cinese.

Orari degli scavi

Gli orari degli Scavi di Pompei, Oplontis, Stabia e dell'Antiquarium di Boscoreale:

Pompei: 9.00-19.30 (ultimo ingresso alle 18.00)

Oplontis, Boscoreale e Stabia: 8.30 - 19.30 (ultimo ingresso 18.00)

Prezzi

Pompei: 11 euro

Ridotto: 5.50 euro

Biglietto integrato Pompei, Ercolano, Boscoreale, Oplontis, Stabiae (valido 3 giorni): 20.00 Euro

Ricordiamo che anche la Reggia di Caserta farà delle aperture straordinarie.

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Scavi di Pompei, apertura straordinaria 1 maggio 2017

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In occasione della Festa dei Lavoratori, il 1 maggio 2017, gli Scavi di Pompei saranno aperti in via straordinaria. Infatti, generalmente il sito è chiuso in questa giornata, ma considerato l'enorme afflusso di turisti che sta "invadendo" Napoli ed i dintorni dal periodo di Pasqua, è stato trovato l'accordo con i lavoratori e gli scavi saranno aperti.

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Aleteia — Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture

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One of the most remarkable sculptures in the world is also the stuff of legend.

The Cristo Velato (that is, the Veiled Christ) is a sculpture completed in 1753, originally (mis)attributed to Antonio Corradini and considered one of the world's most remarkable pieces of art. In fact, the great neoclassical maestro Antonio Canova, who tried to buy the work, said he would gladly give up ten years of his life to produce such masterpiece.
Click "Launch the Slideshow" in the image below to see the beautiful details up close:
Although Corradini was in fact commissioned with the job in the first place, he died having only produced a clay model for what would later be a definitive piece sculpted in marble. It was Giuseppe Sammartino, then, who ended up producing the astonishing sculpture of a dead Jesus, covered by a transparent shroud carved out of the very same marble block shared with the rest of the statue. Sammartino's mastery - the veil covering the figure of Jesus being in fact "transparent" - didn't only gain him a well-deserved place in the history of Western art, but also turned his artwork into the stuff of legend.

Some stories claim Sammartino covered his sculpture with a linen veil he managed to transform into marble by means of complex chemical-alchemical processes. Those very same legends would also claim that Raimondo di Sangro, the commissioner of the sculpture, was himself an alchemist who taught Sammartino the mysteries of his pseudo-science. Of course, these are but legends.

The statue is today preserved in the Capella Sansevero, in Naples, Italy.

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The Veiled Christ in images: The miracle of transparent marble

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The Cristo Velato (that is, the Veiled Christ) is a sculpture completed in 1753, originally (mis)attributed to Antonio Corradini and considered one of the world's most remarkable pieces of art. In fact, the great neoclassical maestro Antonio Canova, who tried to buy the work, said he would gladly give up ten years of his life to produce such masterpiece.

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L'Italiano e' la lingua ufficiale dell'Italia. E' una delle lingue che deriva dal latino. Ogni regione ha  diversi dialetti che vengono ancora oggi usati soprattutto dalle generazioni piu' anziane nelle zone rurali.
L'italiano standard, quello che si studia a scuola e all'estero deriva dal dialetto fiorentino (citta' di Firenze).

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Naples is the flower of paradise. The last adventure of my life. -Alexander Dumas

I won't say another word about the beauties of the city and its situation, which have been described and praised often. As they say here, "Vedi Napoli e poi muori! — See Naples and die!" One can't blame the Neapolitan for never wanting to leave his city, nor its poets singing its praises in lofty hyperboles: it would be wonderful even if a few more Vesuviuses were to rise in the neighbourhood. - Goethe

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1. Come è definita Napoli? Quali immagini vengono mostrate?
-Arte, cucina italiana, vita di strada
2.Per cosa è famosa Napoli?
-Per la pizza e la pasta (e per la mafia)
3. In quale negozio vanno Andrew e Giorgio?
-in un negozio di statuette del presepe.
4. Perché Napoli era conosciuta e importante storicamente per gli inglesi? Che cosa era il Grand Tour?
-Perche' era considerata una delle capitali della cultura, del teatro e della storia. Gli scavi di Pompei sono diventati famosi in tutto il mondo. Molti giovani aristocratici interessati in storia e letteratura la visitavano per la sua bellezza

6. Provate a descrivere la Cappella San Severo e alcune delle opere che sono mostrate.
-La cappella e' un esempio di arte barocca. Le sculture sono bellissime, con il marmo che sembra essere un lenzuolo molto sottile

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la BBC nella Napoli Capitale (Italy Unpacked in Naples)

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- Cosa conoscete delle regioni italiane?
-Le regioni italiane hanno delle storie diverse
-Ci sono stati diversi regni in Italia (L'Italia e' stata conquistata da potenze straniere)
-Ci sono delle ragioni a statuto speciale (=special status)
-In alcune regioni ci sono piu' di una lingua ufficiale, in Val d'Aosta il francese e' lingua ufficiale come l'italiano.
-L'Umbria e' l'unica regione italiana che non ha uno sbocco sul mare e non confina con uno stato estero
-La storia delle regioni italiane e' molto antica. Un esempio della sua complessita' e' che ancora oggi esistono due Citta'-Stato, San Marino e Citta' del Vaticano. (Nel medioevo c'erano tantissime citta'-stato. Il Regno d'Italia e' stato unificato solo nel 1861)

- Perché in Italia si parla di identità regionale o locale? Potete fare un paragone con l’Australia?
-In Italia le regioni hanno una loro tradizione legata alla storia, al cibo,  e ad altri aspetti culturali
-L'identita' regionale e' legata anche ai dialetti, infatti ogni regione, quasi ogni citta', ha la sua variazione dialettale: nella citta' di Paola, Bergamo, si parla il bergamasco! a Milano si parla il milanese. Il bergamasco e il milanese sono dialetti lombardi (la regione si chiama Lombardia)
->SEDIA: in bergamasco si dice  SCAGNA, in milanese si dice CADREGA  (e' molto difficile imparare i dialetti
-Le persone di una stessa regione hanno il dialetto e la tradizione culinaria in comune e questo fa parte della loro identita'
-La tradizione di ogni regione si e' evoluta in centinaia di anni di storia
-La storia dell'Australia (Inglese) e' molto piu' recente (La tradizione aborigena e' molto antica ma non e' parte della vita quotidiana della maggior parte degli australiani)
-In Australia esiste rivalita' tra le citta'