Author of the entry: Augusto Russo
If, given its dedicatee, the tomb of Raimondo di Sangro represents the culmination of the family’s monumental programme, that of his son Vincenzo, eighth Prince of Sansevero, marks its effective epilogue: his successors would be buried in the underground chamber, since the burial chapel had by then exhausted its available space, as Raimondo himself had already explained in letters to two correspondents dated 1753 (di Sangro 2018, pp. 32–33, 72; cf. also Breve nota 1766, p. 12).
Vincenzo’s monument is placed above the side entrance to the Chapel in the shadow of the corresponding arch and opposite that of Raimondo (cf. entry 24). On the exterior is the 1767 inscription, ‘a quasi-changing of the guard from father to son’ (Colapietra 1986, p. 146). Inside, the deliberate and self-evident correspondence between the two tombs also extends to the oval portraits, which, nevertheless, are not entirely uniform in stylistic register: in any case, these are funerary monuments distinct in form, ambition, and conception. In the same way, symmetry governs the relationship between the monuments to Raimondo’s and Vincenzo’s wives (Carlotta Gaetani and Gaetana Mirelli respectively), which, set against the pillars beside the spaces housing their husbands’ tombs, also face one another (cf. entries 25 and 8). In any case, within the sculptural and symbolic opulence of the family chapel (in other words, amid the profusion of burials, statues, and inscriptions), Vincenzo’s monument today risks, quite understandably, not immediately attracting the attention of either visitor or scholar.
Born in 1743, Vincenzo was Raimondo’s eldest son and, as designated in his father’s will, he inherited both honours and burdens, as it were, in 1771. As early as 1764, Raimondo had transferred responsibility for the administration of the estate and the discharge of debts to his son, and shortly thereafter, in 1765, he stipulated, in Vincenzo’s favour and in view of his marriage, a deed assigning the income from his own assets. The family’s debt was then substantially alleviated by the dowry of Donna Gaetana Mirelli of the Princes of Teora (cf. Chartulae desangriane 2006, passim). The eighth Prince of Sansevero died in 1790 at the age of forty-seven.
The placement above a doorway entails, ipso facto, more or less consciously on the part of the patron, that, considered as a whole, Vincenzo’s monument may acquire meanings associated with this element and its (here also eminently practical) function, which recur in various forms in the history of funerary sculpture, from antiquity to Bernini (1598–1680) and Canova (1757–1822). There is no need for further clarification: it suffices merely to consider how the door may allude, to some degree notionally, to the presence of the burial chamber, indicating the passage between earthly and transcendent life, or acting as a membrane between two distinct dimensions. In this case, those who enter cross into the magical and artfully contrived world of the Chapel; those who leave it return to real life in an alley in the historic centre of Naples. This solution (i.e., this funerary and celebratory device) had at least one prominent local precedent in the mirrored monuments, including portraits, of Giacomo and Giovan Domenico Milano, ingeniously frescoed by the Roman Giacomo del Po in the sacristy of San Domenico Maggiore (1712; Rizzo 2001, pp. 236–237, doc. 229), where the illusionistic effect is pushed to its extreme through the fiction of large niches framing the doors.
Vincenzo’s monument is conceived as something that remains fundamentally within the Berninian inheritance, presupposing a dynamic and theatrically engaging mode of perception in the viewer: what is narrated and rendered eternal is not solemnisation but unveiling. On either side, two suspended putti have just raised the drapery and hold it open; the resulting plastic-illusionistic effect is reinforced by the persuasive rendering of folds beneath the urn, whose lion’s-paw feet secure the cloth. In the centre, three further putti in different poses (one seated, one standing, one almost concealed) accompany and reveal the nobleman’s effigy, or else are engaged in the final arrangement of the medallion.
The authorship of the monument remains uncertain. In 1760, following his rupture with Raimondo, Francesco Queirolo was required to deliver to him, together with various wax and clay models, ‘the model of the small door with the tomb above it, also in clay’ (according to the trial records: Chartulae desangriane 2006, p. 81). This model may have been by Queirolo (1704–1762), or it may have been one of the ‘thirty-six original fired-clay models’ prepared by Antonio Corradini to adorn the Chapel and bequeathed at his death in 1752 (Origlia Paolino 1754, p. 365). The identity of the sculptor who completed the work remains unknown; attribution has been tentatively proposed, without decisive evidence, to one of the artists generally engaged by Raimondo: Francesco Maria Russo, Francesco Celebrano (1729–1814), or Paolo Persico (cf. de Sangro 1991, pp. 178–181, no. 12).
Some stylistic observations may nevertheless be advanced here for attribution on the basis of internal comparisons within the Chapel. The putti on the monument are close in type and modelling to those in other sculptural groups attributable to Celebrano or executed under his supervision: the two putti to the left of Vincenzo’s portrait are almost superimposable on the ones similarly posed in relation to their medallion in the Zelo della Religione, a documented work by Fortunato Onelli under Celebrano’s direction, which he probably also corrected; the other putto on the right may be readily compared with that, similarly posed with a pronounced hip shift, in the_ Dominio di sé stessi,_ a work certainly by Celebrano (cf. entries 10 and 22). This would seem sufficient reason for attributing the work to Celebrano himself or, at most, to the more modest Onelli, working under his supervision. Both cited marble groups are dated 1767, a time not incompatible with the monument under discussion. The dating is further supported by a bank order, settled in early 1768, for just over 126 ducats paid to the piperno mason Gennaro Barba in settlement for ‘the piperno urn made by him for the small door of the family church of the Prince of San Severo’ (Nappi 1975, pp. 152–153, doc. 179; cf. de Sangro 1991, p. 181).
The monument is described in the 1771 inventory of Raimondo’s estate (cf. Attanasio 2011, pp. 150–151; although the document is incomplete, as it lacks a folio), where the entry also includes the surrounding architectural and decorative apparatus, suggesting a unified perception of the wall system. It records that ‘above the said door is an urn of inlaid rosso antico in the form of a shell moulding with drapery at the front, and similarly at the lower front, inlaid with alabaster coloured to resemble amethyst’ (Inventario 1771, fol. 122r; Attanasio 2011, pp. 150–151).
A significant description appears only a little further on in Sarnelli’s 1772 guide: ‘above the [side] door there is a mausoleum of oriental alabaster outlined in rosso antico, and adorned with gilded metal, above which is the oil portrait on copper of the present Prince of Sansevero, Don Vincenzo di Sangro, painted by Carlo Amalfi’ (Sarnelli 1772, p. 132; cf. Sigismondo 1788, p. 35). It has been suggested that, on Raimondo’s death, his son commissioned a portrait of himself and one of his father (Mostra 1954, pp. 41–42, no. 52), though this remains unconfirmed; nor does it appear plausible that Raimondo’s monument, probably erected in 1759 or shortly afterwards, remained without a portrait for such a long time (cf. Aiello 1989, pp. 86–89). It has also been argued that Raimondo had initially intended the tomb for his eldest son, ‘with the mental reservation, however, of removing the portrait should he remain unmarried or without issue’, a reservation rendered void by Vincenzo’s marriage in 1765 (de Sangro 1991, p. 180).
It has long been established through numerous lines of evidence that the figure depicted is, as already extensively noted, that of Vincenzo di Sangro (Colapietra 1986, pp. 144, 152, note 84; Aiello 1989, pp. 86–89; de Sangro 1991, pp. 178–181). Earlier attempts to identify him as a youthful Raimondo or as a certain Ferdinando di Sangro lack any convincing basis (Napoli Signorelli 1811, p. 249; Mostra 1954, pp. 41–42, no. 52). A nineteenth-century lithograph by Franz Wenzel, based on the portrait, even labels the figure as Raimondo (Colonna di Stigliano 1895, p. 54). The absence of a dedicatory inscription on the monument probably contributed to this confusion; the fact that no inscription was subsequently added indicates how far the Chapel had, by the late eighteenth century, departed from the standards of maintenance and patronal control characteristic of Raimondo’s earlier activity.
The half-length portrait of the young Vincenzo, like that of Raimondo, was painted from life and is unanimously attributed in the late eighteenth-century Neapolitan sources to Carlo Amalfi. This copper panel, better preserved than Raimondo’s, was exhibited in 1954 in the survey of Neapolitan historical portraiture, providing an early opportunity for an assessment of Amalfi as a portraitist (Ferdinando Bologna in Mostra 1954, pp. 41–42, no. 52). While Bologna observed that Amalfi’s attempt to emulate Traversi is more evident in the portrait of Raimondo, his judgement on Vincenzo’s portrait was equally favourable: it ‘would not suffer by comparison with Lépicié’s self-portrait, despite its lesser immediacy’. Subsequent scholarship has stated that, in the oval under discussion, Amalfi produced ‘a portrait in an elegant and powdered French-influenced style after the manner of Liani or Delle Piane’ (Picone 1959, pp. 81–82). Comparisons with Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié, a pupil of Charles-André van Loo and member of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, and with Francesco Liani and Giovanni Maria delle Piane, non-local portraitists in vogue within Bourbon patronage circles of the period, indicate a repertoire of references fully in keeping with contemporary taste. On the other hand, the quality of the Sansevero portraits and their attribution to Amalfi also constitute a firm point of reference for recent additions to the painter’s corpus in this genre (such as the Serra di Cassano series: Porzio 2015), rightly the most appreciated part of his portrait production.
A miniature portrait of the then Duke of Torremaggiore (Vincenzo) by Alessandro Guglielmi is documented in 1760 (Nappi 2010, p. 85, doc. 272).
Essential bibliography on the work
Inventario de’ beni rimasti nell’eredità del fu eccellentissimo don Raimondo di Sangro principe di Sansevero, Naples, notary Francesco de Maggio, 1771, copy of the document held at the Archivio Storico del Pio Monte della Misericordia di Napoli, d’Aquino di Caramanico collection, provisional shelfmark A.162, fol. 122r.
Sarnelli Pompeo, Nuova guida de’ forestieri…, Naples, at the expense of Saverio Rossi, 1772, p. 132.
Sigismondo Giuseppe, Descrizione della città di Napoli e suoi borghi, II, [Naples,] Terres, 1788, p. 35.
Mostra del ritratto storico napoletano, exhibition catalogue Gino Doria and Ferdinando Bologna (eds) (Naples, Palazzo Reale, October – November 1954), Naples 1954, pp. 41–42, no. 52.
Picone Marina, La Cappella Sansevero, Naples 1959, pp. 81–82.
Nappi Eduardo, ‘La famiglia, il palazzo e la cappella dei principi di Sansevero. Dai documenti dell’Archivio Storico del Banco di Napoli’, in Revue Internationale d’Histoire de la Banque, 1975, no. 11, pp. 100–161, esp. pp. 152–153, doc. 179.
Colapietra Raffaele, ‘Raimondo di Sangro e il Templum sepulcrale della Cappella Sansevero (II)’, in Napoli nobilissima, ser. III, XXV, 1986, pp. 142–154, esp. pp. 144–146, 152, note 84.
Aiello Immacolata, Carlo Amalfi, pittore del ‘700, Sorrento 1989, pp. 86–89.
de Sangro Oderisio, Raimondo de Sangro e la Cappella Sansevero, Rome 1991, pp. 178–181, no. 12.
Attanasio Sergio, In casa del Principe di Sansevero. Architettura, invenzioni, inventari, Naples 2011, pp. 150–151.
Porzio Giuseppe, Carlo Amalfi per i Serra di Cassano. Un contributo alla ritrattistica napoletana del Settecento, exhibition catalogue (Florence, Palazzo Corsini, Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato, 26 September – 4 October 2015), Rome, Galleria Carlo Virgilio & C., 2015.
Comparative bibliography
Origlia Paolino Giangiuseppe, Istoria dello Studio di Napoli…, II, Naples, Giovanni di Simone, 1754, p. 365.
Breve nota di quel che si vede in casa del Principe di Sansevero don Raimondo di Sangro nella città di Napoli, [Naples] 1766, p. 12.
Napoli Signorelli Pietro, Vicende della coltura nelle Due Sicilie…, VII, Naples 1811, p. 249.
Colonna di Stigliano Fabio, ‘La Cappella Sansevero e D. Raimondo di Sangro’, in Napoli nobilissima, IV, 1895, 4, pp. 52–58, esp. p. 54.
Rizzo Vincenzo, Lorenzo e Domenico Antonio Vaccaro. Apoteosi di un binomio, Naples 2001, pp. 236–237, doc. 229.
Chartulae desangriane. Il Principe committente, exhibition catalogue, Bruno Crimaldi (ed.) (Naples, Museo Cappella Sansevero, 28 March 2006), Naples 2006.
Nappi Eduardo, Dai numeri la verità. Nuovi documenti sulla famiglia, i palazzi e la Cappella dei Sansevero, Naples 2010, p. 85, doc. 272.
Porzio Giuseppe,_ Carlo Amalfi per i Serra di Cassano. Un contributo alla ritrattistica napoletana del Settecento, _exhibition catalogue (Florence, Palazzo Corsini, Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato, 26 September – 4 October 2015), Rome, Galleria Carlo Virgilio & C., 2015.
di Sangro Raimondo, La materia del fuoco. Lettere a Giraldi e Nollet, Dissertation, introduction, notes and appendix, Leen Spruit (ed.), Naples 2018, pp. 32–33, 72.
DOI: 10.82049/CATALOGO09