Touching the Veiled Christ: at the Sansevero Chapel a special tactile visit

Naples, the Sansevero Chapel Museum exceptionally opens its doors to blind and visually impaired visitors with an initiative dedicated to theaccessibility of artistic heritage. In fact, on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, the Naples museum is organizing the tactile visit “The Wonder at Hand,” a special experience that will allow visitors to explore through touch some of the most famous works housed in the monumental complex, including the famous Veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sammartino and the marble bas-reliefs of Pudicizia, by Antonio Corradini, and Disinganno, by Francesco Queirolo.

The initiative represents an extraordinary and exclusive opening dedicated to the visually impaired public and was created with the aim of making the museum’s historical-artistic heritage increasingly accessible through modalities calibrated to the needs of visitors. The project is organized by the Sansevero Chapel Museum in collaboration with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired - ETS APS, Naples territorial section.

The tactile visit will be free of charge and will run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with last admission at 6:30 p.m. Access is allowed only by compulsory reservation, to be made by phone or e-mail until all available places are filled. During the initiative, each blind or visually impaired visitor will be allowed to enter with a companion or with their guide dog. To ensure the protection of the marble works, wearing rings, bracelets, watches or other objects that may come into contact with the surfaces of the sculptures will not be allowed during the tactile exploration.

The project was presented on March 10 at a meeting attended by the president of the Sansevero Chapel Museum, Maria Alessandra Masucci, the president of the Naples branch of the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired, Giuseppe Ambrosino, and tour guide Roberta Meomartini, an expert in designing tactile routes.

“The organization of this day was complex and required many months of work, but we are happy to offer again, after more than a decade, a special experience to those who can only appreciate the beauty of our artistic heritage through tactile exploration,” explains Maria Alessandra Masucci. “This initiative adds to our program for the creation of an inclusive and accessible cultural space through specific paths and tools calibrated to the different needs of museum visitors.”

“The enjoyment of beauty should be understood as a universal right because art should not be a privilege of sight alone,” says Giuseppe Ambrosino. “Accessibility projects, such as ’Wonder at your fingertips,’ transform a museum into a place of true inclusion, helping to affirm that art belongs to everyone or to no one. On this occasion, not only will blind visitors be allowed to touch the marble sculpture, but beauty will be allowed to flow through the hands to get straight to the heart. To be able to touch the Veiled Christ is to break down the barriers between the work of art and those excluded from its wonder. This approach transforms aesthetic enjoyment into an infinite experience.”

The tour route will be structured specifically for the audience involved. Participants will be welcomed by the museum’s educational services staff with an introductory presentation dedicated to the history of the Sansevero Chapel and the figure of Raimondo di Sangro, prince of Sansevero and creator of the monument’s complex iconographic program.

Next, a tactile exploration of the museum’s main works will take place. Visitors will be able to approach the Veiled Christ, a masterpiece of Baroque sculpture created by Giuseppe Sanmartino in 1753, famous for the extraordinary rendering of the marble veil that seems to adhere to Christ’s body with incredible realism. To enable the tactile experience, the fence that normally protects the sculpture will be exceptionally removed, and the public, equipped with latex gloves, will be able to directly feel the textures and surfaces of the marble.

The tour will then continue with the bas-reliefs of Modesty and Disenchantment, two of the chapel’s iconic sculptures, also explored through touch. The activity will be guided by blind escorts belonging to the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired, specially trained for this experience. Their preparation has been taken care of by Roberta Meomartini in collaboration with the museum, so as to build a mode of storytelling and guidance adapted to the tactile perception of the works.

At the end of the visit, guests will be accompanied to the sacristy of the chapel, where they will receive a complimentary special braille guidebook created by the museum together with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired and printed by the Stamperia Regionale Braille ETS of Catania. The volume will later remain available to people with visual impairments who visit the chapel.

The initiative is part of a broader accessibility program developed by the Sansevero Chapel Museum in recent years. Throughout the year, in fact, the museum makes available different ways of visiting designed for audiences with specific needs. These include the “DescriVedendo” tour, which offers audio guides dedicated to the visually impaired, and LIS video tours designed for the deaf public, available both as a support during the visit and online.

The museum has also developed the “Museum for All” project, with routes designed for adult visitors and children with intellectual disabilities. Through these initiatives, the institution intends to foster the encounter between the public and the chapel’s artistic heritage, making possible an increasingly autonomous enjoyment of the works and spaces of the monumental complex.

The stated goal is to transform the Sansevero Chapel into an increasingly open and inclusive place, where culture and beauty can be shared by all. Through projects such as “The Wonder within Reach,” the museum thus continues to work to break down the barriers that limit access to art, reaffirming the principle that cultural heritage should be a universal right and not a privilege.

Touching the Veiled Christ: at the Sansevero Chapel a special tactile visit

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