Naples's underground chapel from the 16th century was discovered
Naples is home to a wealth of Catholic artworks, including the "Veiled Christ" sculpture and St. Clare's monastery. Even structures that now house nonreligious events frequently had a Catholic origin. This is true of the State Archive building, which is housed on the grounds of a former Benedictine monastery honoring two local saints, St. Severinus of Noricum and St. Sosius.
A fresco depicting a Pietas scene with Mary holding the corpse of Christ was found beneath a wall inside Naples’ State Archive building.
An active community of Benedictine monks lived in the monastery, which was founded in 846 in the heart of ancient Naples. Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, who presided over Naples at the close of the 18th century, issued an order for the expulsion of the monks and the conversion of the monastery into a weapons storage facility in 1799.
By order of Joachim Murat, a French general who commanded Naples under Napoleonic occupation, the newly established States Archive, housing thousands of public papers dating from medieval medical treatises to 15th-century notary deeds, was relocated inside the former Benedictine abbey in 1848.
Workers performing regular maintenance on Naples State Archive building discovered a previously unknown 16th-century chapel.
The State Archive is now a government structure, but its stunning cloister and extensive collection of artwork, notably a set of murals by Renaissance artist Antonio Solario depicting significant events in St. Benedict's life, reflect the building's former monastery use. Restoration efforts to restore sections of the building's walls began a few months ago.
A fresco depicting a Pieta scene with Mary holding the corpse of Christ was found beneath a wall inside Naples’ State Archive building.
Workers discovered something strange was growing beneath a wall in one of the archive rooms during a routine clean up. A superbly maintained fresco from the 16th century was discovered to be what at first glance appeared to be some old paint. The fresco, which shows Mary bearing the body of Christ in a Pieta tableau, once decorated a wall in an unidentified chapel. other work revealed two other murals of St. Severinus of Noricum and St. Sosius that were painted on the two neighboring walls.
The artistic director of the State Archive posted images of the recently discovered frescoes and the discovery's news on Facebook. Luigi La Rocca, a state archeologist who works at the Naples municipality, remarked, "It was a real discovery; we had no idea that the chapel was there." We shall now do research on the frescoes to more precisely date the church.
Further works unveiled two other frescoes, decorating the two adjacent walls, featuring St. Severinus of Noricum and St. Sosius.
The chapel, which is said to have been built in the sixteenth century, is likely to be added to the list of Catholic visitors' destinations. In an interview, Naples mayor Gaetano Manfredi commented, "This extraordinary discovery gives us a glimpse of Naples during the Aragon Kingdom and will become a new gem for the many tourists who come to our city."