The Sansevero Chapel Museum in Naples is participating in the 2024 European Heritage Days, taking place today and tomorrow, with a special initiative that pays homage to the intercultural tradition and progressive thinking of the XNUMXth Prince of Sansevero.
The museum will exceptionally exhibit the original edition of the Lettera Apologetica, Raimondo di Sangro's major literary work. For the occasion, the Museo Cappella Sansevero, as has been the case for several editions of the European Heritage Days, is also committed to a cultural solidarity project.
This year, a portion of the proceeds from September 28th (€1 per paying visitor) will be donated to the State Archives of Naples to support the restoration of a series of historical drawings from notarial protocols from the XNUMXth, XNUMXth, XNUMXth, and XNUMXth centuries.
These are outline or watercolour drawings depicting monuments and views of the city of Naples and which accompanied deeds of sale or contracts for the commission of works. A unique heritage that deserves to be protected for future generations.
This year's European Heritage Days revolves around the theme "Heritage on the Move," an invitation to explore the traces of the interactions between different cultures that have shaped our identity.
The Apologetic Letter of the Academic Exercise of the Crusca containing the defense of the book entitled Letters of a Peruvian Woman in Respect of the Supposition of the Quipu, written to the Duchess of S**** and published by her, best interprets this theme, attesting to the modernity of the prince's thought and his openness towards non-European civilizations.
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Through the Lettera Apologetica, Raimondo di Sangro reveals a cosmopolitan and nonconformist mind, curious to explore the cultures and customs of distant peoples, with the aim of promoting intercultural dialogue as early as the 18th century.
Published by the prince's private printing house at the beginning of 1751, the Letter presents itself as an apologia for an ancient Inca communication system: the quipu, or knots made with colored strings to which he attributes the dignity of writing.
In the book, Prince Raimondo di Sangro, who signed with his name as a member of the Accademia della Crusca, "Esercitato," took the opportunity to express his unorthodox views on various topics, from the miracle of San Gennaro to the origin of the world and of man, earning him a reputation as an irreverent and libertine thinker, so much so that the work was condemned by the Church as "a cesspool of all heresies" and placed on the Index of Prohibited Books.
The Lettera Apologetica is not only a scholarly work on quipus, but also a subtle critique of the limitations of dominant European culture. Through the study of this Peruvian system, the Prince of Sansevero argues that cultural diversity does not mean backwardness.
Di Sangro rejected the view of the Incas as "savages," instead proposing an alternative perspective, in keeping with the cultural relativism that was then beginning to take its first steps thanks to works like this one.
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