The Royal Palace

The scene of some of the most dramatic events of the entire revolt, the Royal Palace (photo), which now dominates Piazza Plebiscito, it was the seat of the court, in the Early Modern period, of the Spanish and Austrian viceroys. The construction work began in the late sixteenth century, on the occasion of a visit that the King of Spain, Philip III, was supposed to have made to the kingdom of Naples. On the same place there was the old residence of the Spanish viceroys. The Viceroy, the Count of LemosFernando Ruiz de Castro, VI Count of Lemos (1548-1601), was a Spanish aristocrat. Thanks to the family relationship with the favourite of Philip III, the duke of Lerma (he had married one of his sisters), in 1599 he obtained his appointment as viceroy of Naples. At his death, in 1601, his second son Francisco held the functions of regent. The eldest son, the seventh Earl of Lemos, also went on to be viceroy of Naples (1610-1616). entrusted the project to the architect Domenico FontanaA Swiss architect of Ticino origin, Domenico Fontana (1543-1607) was an important protagonist of the artistic life of the late Renaissance in Rome and Naples. Under the pontificate of Sixtus V (1585-1590), he designed and implemented the redevelopment of Rome., but the work went on for over fifty years. After Bourbon reconquest (1734), the Palace had its period of greatest splendour from the reign of Charles III onwards, when it was enriched with decorations and frescoes painted by the best artists of the time. Repeatedly restored and enlarged over the centuries (the statues of the Kings of Naples, from Roger the Norman to Vittorio Emanuele II date back to 1888), the Palace was badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War and the subsequent occupation by troops from the United States. Evidence of the Baroque period can be found in the first courtyard, which remained faithful to the original design of the fountain, and in the grand staircase built by Francesco Antonio PicchiattiThe son and pupil of the architect Bartolomeo Picchiatti from Ferrara, Francesco Antonio Picchiatti (1617-1694) was one of the most important architects of seventeenth-century Naples. He was also an accomplished archaeologist and antiquarian, especially in the service of the Viceroy Marquis del Carpio (1683-1687). Among his works, mainly located in Naples, are the obelisk in the Piazza San Domenico Maggiore, the main staircase in the Royal Palace, the Pio Monte della Misericordia and the churches of San Giovanni Battista delle monache (Saint John the Baptist of the Nuns) and of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (Saint Mary of Miracles) are worthy of note. in 1653; the Palatine Chapel, designed by Cosimo Fanzago and later enriched by the splendid altar built by Dionisio LazzariDionisio Lazzari (1617-1689) was a Neapolitan Baroque architect and sculptor. He was mainly a skilled worker and decorator of marble.; the works of great painters who decorated the many rooms of the palace, including GuercinoGiovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino (1591-1666) was born in Cento, in the Duchy of Ferrara, where he took his first steps as a painter. He came into contact with Venetian and Bolognese art and developed his own artistic style, also made available to Pope Gregory XV from 1621 to 1623. He died in Bologna., Andrea VaccaroAndrea Vaccaro (1604-1670) was a Neapolitan Baroque painter. He worked mainly on ecclesiastical commission, knowing how best to interpret the artistic canons of the Counter-Reformation., Jusepe de Ribera, Luca Giordano, Battistello CaraccioloGiovanni Battista Caracciolo called Battistello (1578-1635) was a Neapolitan painter. A student of Belisario Corenzio, he was the main exponent of the art and the style of Caravaggio in Naples. In the second part of his career, as a result of trips and stays mainly in Rome, his works were less related to the model closest to the influence of Caravaggio and Guido Reni and the Carracci., Mattia PretiMattia Preti (1613-1699) was born in Taverna in Calabria. On account of his origins, and the fact that he was knighted by Pope Urban VIII, he received his nickname, il Cavaliere calabrese “the Knight of Calabria”. He was active in Rome, Naples and Malta, where he died January 3, 1699. and Belisario CorenzioBelisario Corenzio (1558-1646) was an Italian painter. Of Greek origin, he adorned major Neapolitan churches with frescoes and altarpieces, but he also worked in Cassino and Salerno. A Mannerist painter influenced by the Romans and Venetians, he did espouse the innovations introduced in the kingdom of Naples by the followers of Caravaggio. He died tragically following a fall from a scaffold in the church of Saints Severino e Sossio (Severinus and Sossius), where he is buried.. Even though they have largely lost their original appearance, we can remind the Teatro della Corte, turned into a true theatre at the behest of the Spanish viceroys; the Sala del Gran Capitano (Hall of the Great Captain), which contains paintings that celebrate the conquest of the kingdom of Naples by Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba; seventeenth century paintings from Emilia from the Farnese collection inherited by Charles of Bourbon and transported to Naples; the Salone d’Ercole (Hall of Hercules), once called the Sala dei Vicerè (Hall of the viceroys), where there were a series of portraits of the viceroys; the Royal Chapel, built in the middle of the seventeenth century according to a design by Cosimo Fanzago and the veritable centre of the Neapolitan music scene between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At the Royal Palace, the National Library Vittorio Emanuele III from the twenties of the twentieth century is also located.

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