While Capodimonte masterpieces are at the Louvre, museum disruptions in Naples (at full price)

Visitors to the Capodimonte National Museum this summer will not only be forced to traverse the halls of a museum devoid of most of its masterpieces, shipped off to France for the now-famous Louvre exhibition where some 70 paintings from the core Capodimonte collection (among others: Masaccio’s Crucifixion , Parmigianino’sAntea , Raphael’s Madonna of Divine Love , Guido Reni’sAtalanta and Hippomenes , Caravaggio’s Flagellation , Michelangelo’s cartoons), an affair to which we have already devoted two editorials. In fact, there are some inconveniences at the museum that prevent a full and satisfactory visit.

In fact, visitors who go to the National Museum of Capodimonte find a sign warning them of some ... novelties in the itinerary. These are not positive novelties, however. The only floor to offer a regular opening is the first, the one that houses the Farnese collection, which, however, is also the nucleus that has seen the most important subtractions for the Louvre exhibition: so the public can freely visit this part of the museum, from 8:30 to 19:30, but without being able to see the main works, which will remain in France until January.

The second floor, the one with works from Naples and the Neapolitan schools throughout the centuries, on the other hand, is open exclusively with escorted tours lasting about an hour each, a time considered by many to be insufficient to visit the vast rooms on the second floor. What’s more, the tours start at scheduled times and there are only four per day (10:30 a.m., 12 noon, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.), and they run out of seats.

On the other hand, the third floor, which houses theNineteenth Century andContemporary Art, is closed and unvisitable, and it is not known when it will reopen. Finally, reduced hours also for the exhibition The Spaniards in Naples: in fact, the show, set up in the Sala Causa, opens only from 10 am to 5:30 pm. And if you think you happen to be in Naples on holidays, or on Sundays, or even on free admission days, you will see an even smaller percentage of the museum, because on these occasions the second floor remains totally closed to the public, as does the third.

Why does this happen? Essentially because of staffing problems: Capodimonte, like so many other museums, suffers from staff shortages that impose spotty closures. In addition to the harm of not being able to visit the museum in its entirety, and who knows for how much longer, there is the mockery of paying full price: regardless of closures, in fact, the public is required to pay the full 15 euro ticket, the same price they would pay if they could see everything. Another questionable move by Bellenger’s management, and one that will certainly not be well received by the public. Faced with the impossibility of seeing the museum in its entirety, the least that director Sylvain Bellenger should guarantee is a significant discount on the ticket price. That will hopefully come sooner rather than later.

While Capodimonte masterpieces are at the Louvre, museum disruptions in Naples (at full price)

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.