A few days ago, I visited the San Gaudioso Catacombs and the Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità above it in Naples, Italy.
The catacombs were in use by at least the 5th century, though much of its current features date from a 17th Century baroque "rediscovery and intervention." They are located deep in the Capodimonte hillside, which was the traditional burial place in Roman days; here, in a series of warrens constituting what was once a vast necropolis, Pagans and Christians--who coexisted peacefully in Naples, unlike Rome--were interred side by side.
The nearby San Gennero catacombs (8th down), which I had visited the day before, boasted an underground church in the which zealous Christians would worship surrounded by rotting corpses placed in a series of niches to "dry" (i.e. be reduced to skeletal material). San Gaudioso had no such chapel, but it had something even more interesting: a room filled with arresting frescoes of life-sized and costumed skeletons topped with what looked like real human skulls (images 3, 4 and 5) as well as a very handsome and striking life-sized fresco of anthropomorphized Death (image 1-2) with His attendant symbols, topped also with a real human skull.
To my astonished questions, my guide explained something along these lines (quote from The Catacomb brochure):
The catacombs were in use by at least the 5th century, though much of its current features date from a 17th Century baroque "rediscovery and intervention." They are located deep in the Capodimonte hillside, which was the traditional burial place in Roman days; here, in a series of warrens constituting what was once a vast necropolis, Pagans and Christians--who coexisted peacefully in Naples, unlike Rome--were interred side by side.
The nearby San Gennero catacombs (8th down), which I had visited the day before, boasted an underground church in the which zealous Christians would worship surrounded by rotting corpses placed in a series of niches to "dry" (i.e. be reduced to skeletal material). San Gaudioso had no such chapel, but it had something even more interesting: a room filled with arresting frescoes of life-sized and costumed skeletons topped with what looked like real human skulls (images 3, 4 and 5) as well as a very handsome and striking life-sized fresco of anthropomorphized Death (image 1-2) with His attendant symbols, topped also with a real human skull.
To my astonished questions, my guide explained something along these lines (quote from The Catacomb brochure):
One of the peculiar practices of the Dominicans was embedding skulls of certain people in the walls of the ambulatory and depicting their bodies with frescos, accompanied by explanatory, chronological notes indicating the social status of the deceased. The Dominicans created a true gallery of the macabre in their exhibition of the skulls of aristocrats and clergy. These include Lady Sveva Gesualdo, Princess of Montesarchio; a praying Dominican, and in front of him a representation of Death (the image I sent) dominating time and power with a crown, sword and sand-glass; magistrate Diego Longobardo; Marco Antonio d'Aponte; Scipione Brancaccio; and Florentine painter Giovanni Balducci who, in the 17th Century, did a whole series of paintings os which only traces remain...
What the brochure did not mention, but which my guide explained to me upon further questioning, is that the Dominicans also chose an anonymous skeleton to serve as "the guard of the catacombs." This took the form of a full human skeleton crudely set into the wall (see 6 down). Also, (if I understood my guide correctly), all the little niches you see would have been filled with bones that have only as recently as 1984 been moved to the Cimitero delle Fontanelle (more on that in a future post) on orders of the Archbishop, who thought it was no longer appropriate to have such macabre artifacts on display in this important artistic and historic site. This room also had a wonderful fresco depicting the souls in purgatory--a Neapolitan favorite, also to be explored in a future post.
Stay tuned for more posts about the ever-astounding Naples as soon as I have the time to put them together!
All photos are by my own; Image details, top to bottom:
Stay tuned for more posts about the ever-astounding Naples as soon as I have the time to put them together!
All photos are by my own; Image details, top to bottom:
- Fresco of Death personified topped with real human skull, San Gaudioso Catacombs, 17th Century
- Detail, Fresco of Death personified topped with real human skull, San Gaudioso Catacombs, 17th Century
- Skeleton fresco topped with human skull, San Gaudioso Catacombs, 17th Century
- Skeleton frescoes topped with human skulls, San Gaudioso Catacombs, 17th Century
- Male and female frescoes topped with human skulls, San Gaudioso Catacombs, 17th Century
- Dominican "Guard of the Catacombs," San Gaudioso Catacombs,
- Fresco of souls in purgatory, San Gaudioso Catacombs, 17th Century
- San Gennero Catacombs
- Entryway to Basilica San Gaudioso Catacombs, Santa Maria della Sanità
- Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità
- Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità
- Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità
- Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità
- Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità
- Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità
- Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità
2 comments:
"on orders of the Archbishop, who thought it was no longer appropriate to have such macabre artifacts on display in this important artistic and historic site."
This place is now historic for its being a cemetery, so we need to get rid of anything reminding us that dead people were buried here. . .
Sometimes I just have to wonder. . .
Lovely pictures and thanks for the description. Fascinating.
I hope I'm not the only one who looked at those frescoes with the holes where the skulls used to be and thought of those ubiquitous "stick your face here for a picture" souvenirs.
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