Naples, the Sansevero Chapel goes digital: the first online scientific catalogue presented

Naples – A new chapter opens for the Sansevero Chapel, a baroque jewel in the heart of Napoli: tomorrow, Tuesday 27 May 2025, starting at 9:00 am, a study day will be held entitled “For the Sansevero Chapel: new research, new tools”.

The event, hosted in the monumental complex commissioned by Raimondo di Sangro, will be the occasion to officially present the first scientific digital catalogue entirely dedicated to the chapel, the result of a multi-year research project.

The initiative, promoted by the Museo Cappella Sansevero, is part of a broader cultural enhancement program that in recent years has involved universities, research institutes and technological partners to deepen knowledge and conservation of the monument. Participation is free, but with limited places and mandatory reservation on the official website www.museosansevero.it.

The digital catalogue, coordinated by Professor Gianluca Forgione, includes 31 essay-cards prepared by specialists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries – including Luigi Coiro, Eleonora Loiodice, Sabrina Iorio, Augusto Russo and Mariano Saggiomo – accompanied by high definition images created by Haltadefinizione srl

The publication will be online in the coming months, with the aim of making the artistic heritage of the chapel accessible to scholars and enthusiasts from all over the world.

The day will be introduced by Maria Alessandra Masucci, president of the Museo Cappella Sansevero. This will be followed by presentations by scholars from important Italian universities and institutions, including Andrea Bacchi (University of Bologna), Luigi Coiro (Università L'Orientale), Sabrina Iorio (Fondazione Banco di Napoli), Mariano Saggiomo (Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institut), Augusto Russo (Università Federico II), Gianluca Forgione (University of Ferrara). The meeting will be closed by Professor Riccardo Naldi (Università L'Orientale), with the presentation of new discoveries related to the Veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sanmartino.

The research that led to the creation of the catalogue has allowed us to trace previously unpublished archive documents, new attributions – such as that of the monument to Paolo di Sangro and the sculpture Amor divino to Michelangelo Naccherino – and to reconstruct the architectural and artistic history of the chapel in the first decades of the seventeenth century, before the intervention of Raimondo di Sangro.

The investigations have also highlighted the central role of Raimondo's training at the Collegio Romano between 1720 and 1730, which profoundly influenced the decorative style of the work.

Finally, during the day, a particularly significant discovery will be presented: an unpublished terracotta sketch by Giuseppe Sanmartino, modelled as a preparatory study for the famous Veiled Christ.

With this event, the Sansevero Chapel confirms itself not only as a place of artistic wonder, but also as a laboratory for research and innovation in the valorization of the Italian historical heritage.