Visiting Naples by Way of the Louvre

Mannerist room at the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, Italy. Artworks are now on display at “Naples in Paris: The Louvre hosts the Museo di Capodimonte.”Courtesy of the Louvre

The world’s most visited museum, the Louvre, is currently presenting the long-term exhibit “Naples in Paris: The Louvre hosts the Museo di Capodimonte” through Jan. 8, 2024. This show features a loan of over 60 artworks from the Neapolitan Museo di Capodimonte, one of Italy’s largest and most significant museums.

This Italian museum has a world-class collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and objects d’art that are all housed in a former royal palace on a hill overlooking Naples. Its reconstitution from monarchical home to public museum parallels that of the Louvre, also once a royal residence.

Initially a hunting lodge for Naples’s Bourbon monarchs, the Royal Palace of Capodimonte is currently undergoing major renovations; highlights from its collection are “vacationing” at the Louvre.

In some cases, the Louvre owns no equivalent artwork, and the exhibition design of the show is unique: Instead of an isolated en masse display of the Museo di Capodimonte works, they are being presented alongside storied artworks from the Louvre’s permanent collection. A direct dialogue is thus created between the two museums and the artworks themselves, and the rare opportunity to view them all together enhances the viewing experience of each work.

Denon Wing

The Museo di Capodimonte’s artworks are being exhibited in three different areas of the Louvre. A core display of 31 paintings are on view in several of the Denon wing’s galleries devoted to Italian painting. Three of the paintings are by the artist Parmigianino, who was born in Parma and became the most influential Mannerist painter (16th-century artistic style characterized by artifice, elongated lines, and elegant grandeur).

"Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale," 1524, by Francesco Mazzola (Parmigianino). Oil on panel; 42.5 by 31.5 inches. Courtesy of the Louvre

Parmigianino’s artistic studies began at home with instruction from his father and uncles. Subsequently, he was influenced by his fellow hometown artist Correggio, along with the work of the High Renaissance old masters Raphael and Michelangelo. In turn, Parmigianino’s expressive and stylish works influenced artists in Italy and throughout Europe, with his art widely disseminated through etchings.

All four of these renowned artists are featured in the exhibit, which includes the famous Raphael painting “Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione,” part of the Louvre’s permanent collection.

In his short career, Parmigianino painted many portraits. These works are predominately of distinguished men, such as his “Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale.” A handful, though, were of striking, beautifully attired women.

Parmigianino’s ’Antea’

A high point of the Louvre’s presentation is Parmigianino’s eminent and enigmatic painting “Antea.” Considered an Italian masterpiece of female portraiture, much of its backstory remains unknown, including the identity of the model, Parmigianino’s impetus for creating the painting, and even its date.

"Portrait of a Young Woman," (also known as "Antea"), circa 1535, by Parmigianino. Oil on canvas; 54.3 by 33.9 inches. Courtesy of the Louvre

“Antea” was first called by that name in the 17th century by an artist and writer who claimed that the woman had been Parmigianino’s mistress. A well-known 16th-century courtesan had the same name, so the two women were conflated. However, questions about the subject of the portrait have endured.

Scholarly hypotheses have included that the subject was the artist’s daughter, his servant, an aristocratic woman, or a noble bride. However, the current general consensus is that “Antea” is an idealized representation of female beauty—a popular genre of portraiture during the Renaissance. Parmigianino used the image of Antea’s face in other works, which further suggests that she was an ideal facial type he invented and not a specific person.

Detail of "Antea," circa 1535, by Parmigianino. Courtesy of the Louvre

The woman in “Antea” wears a gold satin dress with silver bands that gently billows, giving a sense of movement. Her intricately detailed attire is embellished by an embroidered apron and cuffs. Jewelry historian Amanda Triossi, in her GemGenève talk “Jewels in Italian Renaissance Paintings,” discusses the pearl earrings the woman wears that are accentuated by her hairstyle, which is also adorned with jewels. Triossi highlights the luxury accessory that cascades down the woman’s shoulder, culminating in her hand. It is a zibellino: a pelt made from ermine, sable or, in this case, marten.

Zibellini were sometimes bejeweled, and the marten was associated with childbirth. Wearing a marten zibellino was believed to increase fertility and provide protection for a pregnant woman. In addition, the gold chain, embroidered apron, ruby head brooch, and earrings are emblematic of the gifts one’s lover would offer. By wearing them, Antea shows her acceptance of the physical love tokens along with their intent. She fingers the chain and gestures with her hand to her heart.

In “Antea,” Parmigianino employs a full-length, frontal standing format, which had never before been used in Renaissance female portraiture. Whether the female form in this picture belonged to a woman who actually lived or not, Parmigianino has captured the illusion of someone who seems so real that she could transcend the picture frame.

Sully Wing

"The Fall of the Giants," 1785 and following years, by Filippo Tagliolini. Biscuit porcelain from the real Fabbrica Ferdinandea; 59.4 by 37.8 inches. Courtesy of the Louvre

The second display of “Naples in Paris” takes place in the Sully wing’s Salle de la Chapelle (Sully wing, Level 1). In this space, an eclectic array of paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts are arranged. This grouping includes major works such as Titian’s “Portrait of Pope Paul III and his Grandsons,” Filippo Tagliolini’s complex, large-scale biscuit porcelain group “The Fall of the Giants,” which has been recently restored, and the magnificent “Farnese Casket.”

This casket is considered one of the most precious decorative objects to have been made during the Renaissance, on par with Benvenuto Cellini’s famous golden salt cellar completed for King François I.

“Farnese Casket,” made by Giovanni Bernardi and Florentine silversmith Manno di Bastiano Sbarri, a pupil of Cellini, was commissioned by the great collector Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1548. Indeed, much of the core collection of the Museo di Capodimonte can be traced to the acquisitive cardinal and his grandfather, Pope Paul III, who famously commissioned Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” fresco in the Sistine Chapel.

"Farnese Casket (Cassetta Farnese)," 1548–1561, by Manno di Bastiano Sbari and Giovanni Bernardi. Gilded, embossed and chiseled silver, carved rock crystal, enamel and lapis lazuli; 19.3 by 16.5 by 10.2 inches. Courtesy of the Louvre

Commissioning caskets was especially popular during the Renaissance among European royalty and nobility. Often made from precious metals and inset with engraved rock crystal plaques, many were used as betrothal or wedding gifts.

The Farnese Casket embodies the elegance of Mannerism, creativity, and superb artisanship. Originally, it was used to house precious books and manuscripts, but in 1565 the cardinal gave it to his nephew’s bride as a wedding gift. It is made of gilded silver and richly decorated with embossed and chiseled reliefs both externally and internally, lapis lazuli, and six inset engraved rock crystal ovals of mythological scenes by Bernardi. These crystal plaques are framed by figural representations of the gods Mars, Minerva, Diana, and Bacchus.

The lid’s curvilinear and broken pediments evoke the architecture of Michelangelo, and it is crowned by Hercules and the symbols of his twelve labors. Since Alexander the Great and the Farnese family both claimed descent from Hercules, the casket’s interior shows vignettes of Alexander’s feats and draws comparisons with Cardinal Farnese’s deeds as a guardian of culture.

Old Master’s Cartoons

"Group of Soldiers," 1546–1550, by Michelangelo. Charcoal on paper, pricked for transfer; 103.5 by 61.4 inches. Courtesy of the Louvre

The Salle de l'Horloge (Sully wing, Level 2) has a curated display of drawings from the Museo di Capodimonte’s immense total assemblage shown alongside examples from the Louvre’s Cabinet des Dessins (Cabinet of Drawings). Several of the Museo di Capodimonte’s drawings can trace their provenance to the humanist scholar Fulvio Orsini, Cardinal Farnese’s librarian, who had the foresight to value and collect artist drawings.

The foremost ones on view are Michelangelo’s “Group of Soldiers” and Raphael’s “Moses before the Burning Bush.” Both are preparatory cartoons for Vatican decorative commissions and are considered by scholars to be rare surviving drawings from the Renaissance by the hands of the old masters themselves, instead of the work of assistants.

The English word “cartoon” is a translation of the Italian “cartone,” which means large paper. Cartoons are full-size preparatory drawings made for transferring a composition to its final medium, such as a painting or a wall fresco, via pouncing or tracing using charcoal or black chalk.

In Raphael’s exquisite cartoon “Moses before the Burning Bush,” the prophet is depicted calmly crouched in the presence of the Lord. The final fresco was painted on the ceiling of the Room of Heliodorus at the Vatican, Pope Julius II’s private audience room, along with three other Old Testament episodes.

"Moses before the Burning Bush," 1514, by Raphael. Charcoal and black chalk on paper, pricked for transfer; 54.3 by 55.1 inches. Courtesy of the Louvre

Ceiling of the Room of Heliodorus by Raphael at the Papal Palace, Vatican Museums. Public Domain

Raphael is part of the trio of High Renaissance masters that include Leonardo and Michelangelo. Both of these older artists greatly influenced his style. Raphael began his studies with his father, like Parmigianino did. When he moved to Florence, he was inspired by the art of Leonardo and Raphael.

Early Raphael cartoons are characterized by precise linear lines, while later works show the influence of Leonardo and Michelangelo. As seen in “Moses before the Burning Bush,” his later cartoons are more concerned with poses that use tonal modeling techniques like Michelangelo’s, such as chiaroscuro (light-dark) and sfumato (gradual shading to create hazy forms) like Leonardo.

One of the goals of the “Naples in Paris” exhibit is to raise the profile of the Museo di Capodimonte. Pompeii and Herculaneum often monopolize a tourist’s itinerary, and many who visit Naples are unaware of the museum and its treasures. “Naples in Paris” serves to correct this unfamiliarity, along with providing the Louvre’s visitors an exhilarating and diverse art experience that conveniently requires only one trip to a museum.

“Naples in Paris: The Louvre hosts the Museo di Capodimonte” at the Louvre, in Paris runs until Jan. 8, 2024. To find out more, visit louvre.fr/en.

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