Cappella Sansevero

Cappella Sansevero is one of the smallest sights in Naples and one of the most memorable. The chapel was founded in 1590 by Giovan Francesco di Sangro as a private place of worship, turned into the family burial chapel in 1613, and given its final form in the 18th century by Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero, a soldier, inventor and scholar whose interests in science and Freemasonry shaped the decoration. It is formally dedicated to Santa Maria della Pietà, and Neapolitans also call it the Pietatella.

The reason most people come is Giuseppe Sanmartino's Veiled Christ of 1753, a life-size figure of the dead Christ lying under a shroud carved from the same block of marble. The veil looks thin enough to lift, and the effect is extraordinary even if you have seen photographs. Around it are almost thirty other works. Antonio Corradini's Modesty (1752), a veiled female figure on the tomb of Raimondo's mother, and Francesco Queirolo's Release from Deception (1753 to 1754), in which a man struggles free of a carved marble net, are just as accomplished. In the basement are the two anatomical machines, skeletons of a man and a pregnant woman with their blood vessels reconstructed; recent studies suggest these were built with beeswax, iron wire and silk.

The chapel is small and can get busy, so buying tickets in advance on the official website is sensible, especially at weekends and in the main holiday seasons. The museum opens daily from 9.00 to 19.00 except Tuesdays, with last entry half an hour before closing. Allow 30 to 45 minutes. Photography inside has traditionally been restricted, so check the current rules at the entrance rather than planning on pictures.

It suits anyone with an interest in sculpture or the stranger side of Neapolitan history, and the short visit makes it easy to fit into a walk around the old town. The basement figures may unsettle some younger children, so parents may want to prepare them.

The chapel sits on a narrow lane just behind Piazza San Domenico Maggiore, between Spaccanapoli and Via dei Tribunali. San Domenico Maggiore, Santa Chiara and the Gesù Nuovo are a few minutes away on foot, and Dante station on metro Line 1 is the closest stop.