Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte

September 29th

This place was just too far to walk to so I went and waited for over an hour for the bus to arrive. Spoke to a Tunisian who knew no French and only Italian for his second language to Arabic. He guided me to where I should get off at the Capodimonte Palace. I jokingly called out ‘Ciao!’ when I stepped off the bus and strolled through the grounds and manicured lawns high up on a hill with an overall view of the City of Naples. Apparently, this part of the city is in the line of direct arrival for the airport and not far from it because the planes fly close to the ground and the noise level is excessive.

Built in the early part of the 18th century under the reign of Charles of Bourbon and later passed to the Savoy, it’s a rich palace with three full floors of huge rooms with thirty or forty foot ceilings, some exquisitely decorated with painted ceilings, huge hanging chandeliers and furniture from that time. The collection is rich in Italian art of the 15th and 16th centuries and for some reason familiar to my catholic education: some of this type of obscure religious painting probably appeared in religious text books of my youth. Quite a number of paintings of St. Sebastian, a Giulio Pippi Madonna, Child and Cat, and the original Saint George and the Dragon by Lelio Orsi, a painting which graced the inside covers of a childrens’ anthology of literature that was read to us when we were children, the originals of which are here. Also, paintings of Food! And, Peter Bruegel’s Il Misantrope. A special exhibit by Albrecht Durer, too!

Since today was Saturday, traffic was even more hectic and noisy with even more traffic jams and the incessant din of horns beeping. At least the museum was free for some unknown reason.