 Introduzione
The Palace and Museum of Capodimonte is a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy, formerly the summer residence of the kings of the Two Sicilies. It houses the main museum and art gallery of the city. This Museum, opened in 1950, houses works of art ranging from the 13th to the 18th century which belonged to the Farnese family and which were then inherited by the Bourbon family. The Roman Collection that includes works of art by Michelangelo, Tiziano, El Greco, Raffaello and Botticelli is an essential part of any visit.
 Location
Address: Via Miano 2
In the Palazzo Capodimonte, Parco di Capodimonte (off Amedeo di Savoia).
 History
It was built at the command of Charles VII, king of Naples and Sicily (later Charles III, king of Spain) and started in 1738 after a design by Giovanni Antonio Medrano, who was also the architect of Naples' beautiful opera house, the Teatro San Carlo. King Charles built it expressly to house the fabulous Farnese art collection which he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, last descendant of the sovereign ducal family of Parma.
Ferdinand IV, successor of Carlo, entrusted the widening of the Reggia and the cure of the park to the architect Ferdinando Fuga. Its classical-stately style, typical of the great European courts and its solemn and grand structure show the celebrative and encomiastic intents of the ruling dynasty.
The destiny of the Reggia did not change with the accession of the Savoia family, after the reunion of Italy. At the end of the eighteenth century, a true Gallery of Modern Art, made up of paintings and sculptures by living Neapolitan artists, was created in some halls of the palace. In 1920, the palace passed from the Crown to the State property. The revival of its exhibit function took place in 1957.
It is the prime repository of Neapolitan and general Italian cultural heritage in the city. The first and second floors house the Galleria Nazionale (National Gallery), with paintings from the 13th to the 18th centuries including major works by Simone Martini, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, El Greco and many others.
 The Building
The construction of the Real Palace of Capodimonte was undertaken in 1738, in the adjacent area to Omonimo the Forest where in the 1734 Carl di Borbone it had decided to create one large game preserve and one residence of Court, in evocative panoramic position on the gulf and the below city. The building is developed in longitudinal sense, through the succession in axis of three goes porticati and intercommunicating courtyards, opened towards the outside with wide fornici; the two prospects introduce rigorous facades in strict dorico style and of measured neocinquecentesco taste, ritmate from strong membrature in piperno gray, wise contrasting with the red Neapolitan of the walls intonacate, and from the succession of wide windows to the noble plan and of smaller openings to the other levels.
 Farnese Collection
The Farnese collection, the oldest collection and in a sense the nucleus of the museum, consists of works collected from the middle of the 16th century until the beginning of the 18th. Some of the greatest luminaries of the history of painting are gathered here, including Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Brueghel.
When Charles inherited the marvelous Farnese collection from his mother, Elisabeth Farnese, he wanted to place it in the new palace. Built in 1816, a great part of the collection was transferred to the National Museum, where the paintings, bronzes and Pompeii statues stood. Now the collection has been restored to its original home, so leaving more space for the archeological collection of the National Museum.
The collections go therefore on two distinguished branches: the Roman collection, comprehensive of more works that artists legacies to the Farnese from relationships of customer (Raffaello, Sebastiano Del Piombo, Tiziano, El Greco, the Carracci brothers, Botticelli) and conserved in the palace of Family near Campo dei Fiori, with to the great ancient statue, currently in The National Archaeological Museum; and the Parmesan collection exposed at the end of 1600's in the palace of the Pilotta in Parma, with one important presence of works of emilian school, let alone a great number of Flemish paintings.
 Picture Gallery
Among the pictures are the monumental Crucifixion by Masaccio, Botticelli's Madonna with Angels, the famous Gypsy by Correggio, Giambellino's Transfiguration, Sebastiano del Piombo's Clement VII, and the wonderful portraits by Parmigianino and Titian. There are also works by Raphael, Pinturicchio, Luca Signorelli, Goya, Perugino, Simone Martini, Colantonio, and Bruegel.
One of the picture gallery's greatest possessions is Simone Martini's Coronation, depicting the brother of Robert of Anjou being crowned king of Naples by the bishop of Toulouse
 Paintings
The museum preserves also a series of paintings coming from Neapolitan churches, among them two Caravaggio masterpieces.
In the rooms of the museum one can admire paintings from the Ligurian - Provencal school, from Tuscany and Verona of the Fifteenth century, from the Emilia and Veneto schools of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries; works by mannerists and Flemishes of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth centuries and a rich collection of Neapolitan school of Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries.
 Rooms
The most important room is literally filled with the works of Renaissance masters, notably an Adoration of the Child, by Luca Signorelli; a Madonna and Child, by Perugino; a panel by Raphael; a Madonna and Child with Angels, by Botticelli; and, the most beautiful, Filippino Lippi's Annunciation and Saints.
In one room are Raphael's Holy Family and St. John and a copy of his celebrated portrait of Pope Leo X. Two choice sketches are Raphael's Moses and Michelangelo's Three Soldiers. Displayed farther are the Titians, with Danae taking the spotlight from Pope Paul III.
Another room is devoted to Flemish art: Pieter Bruegel's Blind Men is outstanding and his Misanthrope is devilishly powerful. Other foreign works include Joos van Cleve's Adoration of the Magi. You can climb the stairs for a panoramic view of Naples and the bay, a finer landscape than you'll see inside.
 Useful Information
Open: Tuesday-Saturday: 10:00-18:00; Sunday and public holidays: 9:00-14:00.
Closed: Mondays.
Telephone: 0039 081 7499111
Fax: 0039-081-7445032
Admission: 7.50 Euro, free for other Italian citizens or foreigners whose countries have reciprocal agreements.
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