Naples reopens the Cloisters and Vasari Sacristy of San Giovanni a Carbonara

Naples celebrates an important cultural return with the reopening of the monumental cloisters and Vasari sacristy of San Giovanni a Carbonara, officially returned to the city on the feast of St. John the Baptist.

The initiative, the result of a collaboration between the Church of Naples, the Fondazione Napoli C'entro, the State Property Agency, the Municipality of Naples, the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape, and the Campania Region, marks a significant step in the process of enhancing the city's historical and artistic heritage, part of the Diffused Diocesan Museum project promoted by Cardinal Mimmo Battaglia.

During the inauguration, which was attended by important institutional representatives such as the director of the State Property Agency Alessandra dal Verme, the President of the Region Roberto Fico, Mayor Gaetano Manfredi, and Rosalia D'Apice representing the Superintendency, the importance of participatory and temporary management of public spaces as a tool for urban and cultural regeneration was emphasized.

The Sacristy has become the hub of an artistic dialogue comparing the Renaissance and contemporary art through the exhibition "Polifonie," curated by Elena Biani and Tommaso Zijno. The exhibition features works by historic artists such as Giorgio Vasari, whose 16 16th-century panels have finally returned to their original location after years of conservation at the Capodimonte Museum, alongside modern masterpieces by Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí, Oskar Kokoschka, Salvatore Fiume, and Armando De Stefano. The exhibition continues with interpretations by six contemporary illustrators who reinterpret biblical stories with contemporary language.

The outdoor spaces of the Cloisters were also involved in this artistic project: the artist Tono Cruz created murals inspired by the lithographs preserved in the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy, creating a bridge between tradition and contemporaneity.

Visits to the Church and the Vasari Sacristy, featuring the "Polifonie" exhibition, will be free from June 25th to July 31st, every day from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, offering a unique opportunity to discover and rediscover one of Naples' most important Renaissance treasures.