Sansevero's Veiled Christ
Few tourist places in Italy forbid the use of cameras but Sansevero Chapel in Naples is one of them. The ticket is pricey at 7 euros for the rather small chapel the size of half a tennis court. There are few if any paintings whose paint could be dangerously harmed by the use of flash. The main features of this chapel are marble statues. It would seem that marble could resist the use of a camera flash, however, the marble is not the issue. This chapel is known as one of the most intriguing and "enigmatic" chapels that exist. Prince Raimondo di Sangro, known as the Leonardo Da Vinci of his time, was interested in alchemy (I'm not really sure what this is but it's sort of like magical chemistry where alchemists could create things like gold from other chemical properties but it was also a lifestyle connected to a philosophy of life) Di Sagro wanted to invest all of his creative energy and money in creating meaningful irreplaceable works of art. The first time I heard about the Veiled Christ made of marble I thought it would be like most fantastic made marble statues in Italy that for sure took a lot of talent to make. When I saw this picture of the Veiled Christ, I was shocked and amazed and wanted to see it in person. All of these pictures are copied from the Sansevero Chapel that can be found here in English.
Prince Raimondo di Sangro commissioned Neapolitan artist, Giuseppe Sanmartino, to make “a life-sized marble statue, representing Our Lord Jesus Christ dead, and covered in a transparent shroud carved from the same block as the statue”. We can see the muscles, relaxed belly, exhausted face and a thin veil covering the face of Christ.
It was a mystery how such a detailed form seemingly transparent could be carved out of one piece of marble. Tests were made and it was proved that one piece of marble was indeed used to create this magnificent sculpture. Another idea was that the person under the veil was a real corpse then that the marble was added using an alchemist method of chemicals.
The other scupltures created that are in the Sansevero chapel are equally beautiful, intricate and irreproducable due to the intensely intricate marbling technique that was used. Each of these sculptures is placed in a location of the chapel, pointing in a certain direction and their particular angle point to an important feature opposing them in the room. From the basic information in the pamphlet I learned that each represents a desirable virtue, however there are also hidden meanings within the statues that signify something.
Divine Love: This statue is at the entrance of the door. The guy is holding his heart towards the heavens. This means that the real love of the soul is the passion of the burning heart given to God and also the fire and passion that God gives to man to pursue his talents (like the alchemist theories that the price loved)
Decorum: The website states, "this Virtue is embodied in the form of a youth partially draped in a lion skin. By his side, there is the head of the same animal, resting on a half column, symbolising the victory of the human spirit over unbridled nature" The guy is also wearing a shoe on one foot while the other remains naked. This means that our character should have one foot (soul) in heaven while moderating ourselves on the more rugged (naked) earth.
Disillusion: This sculpture points to the fragility of human nature when caught, like the fishing net around the man, in disillusion. The book is the Bible and is opened to a passage where Jesus restores sight to a blind man, hinting that the only light or truth is that in following the Bible. This sculptures model was inspired due to the disillusion of Antonio, Duke of Torremaggiore whose wife died very young. After her death he led a disorganized sad life due to his disillusion.
Self Control: I really like this one and think it could be my favorite. Here we see a Roman soldier with a leash holding a lion. It means that will and intellect control our instinct of savage energy and passions (the lion). Note how tired the Roman soldier looks, this means that it is not easy to control our emotions.
Education "“Educatio et disciplina mores faciunt" meaning in Latin "Education and Discipline form good behavior". This quote is at the bottom of this sculpture showing a woman instructing a child. The child has a book open pointing to a chapter on Disillusion to teach children that not everything is as they wish it could be.
Liberality This statue demonstrates equilibrium, sweetness and generosity: all fine moral virtues. There is a cornucopia holding some coins and a compass that are indicate the importance of having direction and being generous.
Modesty This delicate marble statue is made of one piece of stone. The veil wraps around the body of a young woman who looks into the sky. The details of her body are finely seen. She was inspired from Raimondo di Sangro's young mother who died. He wanted to preserve the features and virtues of his young beautiful mother who died when he was one. The transparency of the veil is impossible to imitate and sculptures have debated of how it was made. It also shows the beauty of her body and that modesty can never mask the beauty of a woman. The text broken in half that she is resting on is the Bible passage of the tree of life. The fact that it is broken indicates that her life (tree of life) was cut short.
Sincerity: This statue symbolizes many things in the hands of the main piece as there are two people in this one. The woman holds her heart in the left hand and a rod with two serpents intertwined in the other. The heart means love and charity. The rod or caduceus means peace and reason: two things that oppose each other like mercury and sulphur that can be united. By her side is a chubby little guy holding two doves indicating marital fidelity and love.
Sweetness of the Marital Yoke The main woman has a full belly and it is supposed that she could be pregnant. She is holding two flaming hearts in her hand which indicate mutual love and simple obedience. By her side is a little cherub fighting with a pelican. The pelican is a bird who (with love) pierces her own breast to give milk to her young. This pelican symbolizes, in some way, Jesus sacrifice of his life for us on the cross.
Religious Zeal The main man is holding a light and a whip. The oil lamp is the "light of truth" that is to give clarity through the light on the truth of religion. The whip is meant to punish sacrilege.
The last thing I saw in the Sansevero chapel were the anatomical machines. This is a bit gory so turn away if you don't want to end the blog with something gross. As we walked down the stairs of the chapel my husband explained to me that Raimondo di Sangro was also intensely interested in the human body. Through alchemy (mixing chemicals and processing them in an unknown way) he was able to have presumably two of his slaves injected in a way that congealed all of their arteries. They were injected, alive..., with a mix of mercury and something else that meltallicized their blood vessels. This was an incredible thing for medical researchers as they could see the entire circulatory system of a man and woman.
The dates of these poor servants dates back to 1764. Anatomy was not known so well back then and the embalming and preserving system used here has yet ot be fully known or understood. What is known is that the two bodies gave light to how the circulatory system works. It is tragic for the two people that died though as they were certainly murdered for this and the woman was also pregnant. The fetus of the woman was preserved with her veins, uterus and umbilical chord until the fetus was robbed. The uterus and umbilical chord still dangle there reminding visitors of the sick things people do when they get obsessed with a hobby. I think Mr. Di Sangro could have meditated on the meaning of his magnificent statues and convince himself to use self control. However, I loved the Sansevero chapel and would love to go back 20 dozen times and examine the cool works of art.
Prince Raimondo di Sangro commissioned Neapolitan artist, Giuseppe Sanmartino, to make “a life-sized marble statue, representing Our Lord Jesus Christ dead, and covered in a transparent shroud carved from the same block as the statue”. We can see the muscles, relaxed belly, exhausted face and a thin veil covering the face of Christ.
It was a mystery how such a detailed form seemingly transparent could be carved out of one piece of marble. Tests were made and it was proved that one piece of marble was indeed used to create this magnificent sculpture. Another idea was that the person under the veil was a real corpse then that the marble was added using an alchemist method of chemicals.
The other scupltures created that are in the Sansevero chapel are equally beautiful, intricate and irreproducable due to the intensely intricate marbling technique that was used. Each of these sculptures is placed in a location of the chapel, pointing in a certain direction and their particular angle point to an important feature opposing them in the room. From the basic information in the pamphlet I learned that each represents a desirable virtue, however there are also hidden meanings within the statues that signify something.
Divine Love: This statue is at the entrance of the door. The guy is holding his heart towards the heavens. This means that the real love of the soul is the passion of the burning heart given to God and also the fire and passion that God gives to man to pursue his talents (like the alchemist theories that the price loved)
Decorum: The website states, "this Virtue is embodied in the form of a youth partially draped in a lion skin. By his side, there is the head of the same animal, resting on a half column, symbolising the victory of the human spirit over unbridled nature" The guy is also wearing a shoe on one foot while the other remains naked. This means that our character should have one foot (soul) in heaven while moderating ourselves on the more rugged (naked) earth.
Disillusion: This sculpture points to the fragility of human nature when caught, like the fishing net around the man, in disillusion. The book is the Bible and is opened to a passage where Jesus restores sight to a blind man, hinting that the only light or truth is that in following the Bible. This sculptures model was inspired due to the disillusion of Antonio, Duke of Torremaggiore whose wife died very young. After her death he led a disorganized sad life due to his disillusion.
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| The entire thing, even the net, was carved from one block of marble |
Self Control: I really like this one and think it could be my favorite. Here we see a Roman soldier with a leash holding a lion. It means that will and intellect control our instinct of savage energy and passions (the lion). Note how tired the Roman soldier looks, this means that it is not easy to control our emotions.
Education "“Educatio et disciplina mores faciunt" meaning in Latin "Education and Discipline form good behavior". This quote is at the bottom of this sculpture showing a woman instructing a child. The child has a book open pointing to a chapter on Disillusion to teach children that not everything is as they wish it could be.
Liberality This statue demonstrates equilibrium, sweetness and generosity: all fine moral virtues. There is a cornucopia holding some coins and a compass that are indicate the importance of having direction and being generous.
Modesty This delicate marble statue is made of one piece of stone. The veil wraps around the body of a young woman who looks into the sky. The details of her body are finely seen. She was inspired from Raimondo di Sangro's young mother who died. He wanted to preserve the features and virtues of his young beautiful mother who died when he was one. The transparency of the veil is impossible to imitate and sculptures have debated of how it was made. It also shows the beauty of her body and that modesty can never mask the beauty of a woman. The text broken in half that she is resting on is the Bible passage of the tree of life. The fact that it is broken indicates that her life (tree of life) was cut short.
Sincerity: This statue symbolizes many things in the hands of the main piece as there are two people in this one. The woman holds her heart in the left hand and a rod with two serpents intertwined in the other. The heart means love and charity. The rod or caduceus means peace and reason: two things that oppose each other like mercury and sulphur that can be united. By her side is a chubby little guy holding two doves indicating marital fidelity and love.
Sweetness of the Marital Yoke The main woman has a full belly and it is supposed that she could be pregnant. She is holding two flaming hearts in her hand which indicate mutual love and simple obedience. By her side is a little cherub fighting with a pelican. The pelican is a bird who (with love) pierces her own breast to give milk to her young. This pelican symbolizes, in some way, Jesus sacrifice of his life for us on the cross.
Religious Zeal The main man is holding a light and a whip. The oil lamp is the "light of truth" that is to give clarity through the light on the truth of religion. The whip is meant to punish sacrilege.
The last thing I saw in the Sansevero chapel were the anatomical machines. This is a bit gory so turn away if you don't want to end the blog with something gross. As we walked down the stairs of the chapel my husband explained to me that Raimondo di Sangro was also intensely interested in the human body. Through alchemy (mixing chemicals and processing them in an unknown way) he was able to have presumably two of his slaves injected in a way that congealed all of their arteries. They were injected, alive..., with a mix of mercury and something else that meltallicized their blood vessels. This was an incredible thing for medical researchers as they could see the entire circulatory system of a man and woman.
The dates of these poor servants dates back to 1764. Anatomy was not known so well back then and the embalming and preserving system used here has yet ot be fully known or understood. What is known is that the two bodies gave light to how the circulatory system works. It is tragic for the two people that died though as they were certainly murdered for this and the woman was also pregnant. The fetus of the woman was preserved with her veins, uterus and umbilical chord until the fetus was robbed. The uterus and umbilical chord still dangle there reminding visitors of the sick things people do when they get obsessed with a hobby. I think Mr. Di Sangro could have meditated on the meaning of his magnificent statues and convince himself to use self control. However, I loved the Sansevero chapel and would love to go back 20 dozen times and examine the cool works of art.
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