Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Arts
Dramatic, intense and deliciously contradictory, Naples and its coast have long been a fer-
tile ground for creativity. Caravaggio, Ribera, Scarlatti, Totò, De Sica: the region's list of
homegrown and adopted talent spans some of the world's finest painters, composers, play-
wrights and filmmakers. It's an overwhelming back catalogue, so why not start with the un-
disputed highlights?
Brush-Clutching Greats
While Naples has produced great paintings throughout the centuries, none compare to the
works created in the golden 17th and 18th centuries. High on wealth and power, the boom-
ing city had become the New York of its time, a magnet for talented, ambitious artists des-
perate to put their stamp on Naples' grand new churches and palaces.
The main influence on 17th-century Neapolitan art was Milan-born Michelangelo Merisi
da Caravaggio (1573-1610), who fled to the city in 1606 after killing a man in Rome. Al-
though he only stayed for a year, his naturalist style and dramatic depiction of light and
shade (termed
chiaroscuro
) in paintings like
Flagellation
(inside the Palazzo Reale di Ca-
podimonte) had an electrifying effect on Naples' younger artists.
Among these was Giuseppe (or Jusepe) de Ribera (1591-1652), an aggressive, bullying
Spaniard who arrived in Naples in 1616 after a seven-year stint in Rome. Ribera's combin-
ation of shadow, colour and gloomy naturalism proved hugely popular, best captured in his
capo lavoro
(masterpiece), the
Pietà
, inside the Certosa di San Martino.
A fledgling apprentice to Ribera, Naples-born Luca Giordano
(1632-1705) found great inspiration in the luminous brush-
strokes of Mattia Preti (1613-99), not to mention the pomp of
Venetian artist Paolo Veronese and the flounce of Rome-based
artist and architect Pietro da Cortona. By the second half of the
17th century, Giordano would become the single most prolific
baroque artist in Naples, his many commissions including wall
frescoes in the Duomo's nave and a ceiling painting in the adja-
cent Basilica di Santa Restituta. The Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo
boasts several Giordano creations, including vault and wall
frescoes in the Cappella della Visitazione and canvases in the
Cappella di San Francesco Saverio. Upstaging them all is his
Culture Vulture
Musts
» Teatro San Carlo, Naples
» Ravello Festival, Ravello
» Napoli Teatro Festival,
Naples
» Centro di Musica Antica
Pietà de' Turchini, Naples
