Description
The Pio Monte della Misericordia is a charitable institution founded in Naples in 1602, housed in a 17th-century palace on the main decumanus, next to the Cathedral. It holds one of Caravaggio's most famous works, and still helps those in need today.
In the octagonal church, on the high altar, are Caravaggio's Seven Works of Mercy, paid 400 ducats in 1607. The painting gathers into a single scene, in a Neapolitan alley, the seven acts of charity.
The governors were so pleased that in 1613 they forbade ever moving it from the chapel or selling it. Then they banned copying it too. From the little choir on the first floor they could see it without going down into the church.
On the first floor the Quadreria displays paintings from the 16th to the 19th century, with canvases by Luca Giordano and Ribera. Among the names is Francesco De Mura, who in 1782 left the institution 180 of his paintings to be sold at auction to help the poor: 33 remain.
The institutional rooms hold archive documents. In the Hall of Audience the governors sat at a seven-sided table, where in each section a work of mercy was inlaid.
It all began in 1601, when seven young nobles met every Friday at the Incurabili hospital to bring food to the sick, at their own expense. In 1602 they founded the institution, lay and funded only by laypeople.
The institution was to help the poor, visit prisoners, ransom Christian slaves and host pilgrims. Every six months the governors changed duties, until each had performed them all: a way to prevent abuse.
The facade is 33 meters long, with a portico of five piperno arches and, on the frieze, Isaiah's verse «Fluent ad eum omnes gentes», which became the institution's motto. In the portico is the Madonna of Mercy with two allegorical figures, by Andrea Falcone.
The church has an octagonal plan, with a luminous dome and side chapels decorated with canvases by other 17th-century painters: among them Battistello Caracciolo, who painted the Liberation of Saint Peter for 100 ducats, and Luca Giordano with the Deposition of Christ, paid 200 ducats.
In the octagonal church, on the high altar, are Caravaggio's Seven Works of Mercy, paid 400 ducats in 1607. The painting gathers into a single scene, in a Neapolitan alley, the seven acts of charity.
The governors were so pleased that in 1613 they forbade ever moving it from the chapel or selling it. Then they banned copying it too. From the little choir on the first floor they could see it without going down into the church.
On the first floor the Quadreria displays paintings from the 16th to the 19th century, with canvases by Luca Giordano and Ribera. Among the names is Francesco De Mura, who in 1782 left the institution 180 of his paintings to be sold at auction to help the poor: 33 remain.
The institutional rooms hold archive documents. In the Hall of Audience the governors sat at a seven-sided table, where in each section a work of mercy was inlaid.
It all began in 1601, when seven young nobles met every Friday at the Incurabili hospital to bring food to the sick, at their own expense. In 1602 they founded the institution, lay and funded only by laypeople.
The institution was to help the poor, visit prisoners, ransom Christian slaves and host pilgrims. Every six months the governors changed duties, until each had performed them all: a way to prevent abuse.
The facade is 33 meters long, with a portico of five piperno arches and, on the frieze, Isaiah's verse «Fluent ad eum omnes gentes», which became the institution's motto. In the portico is the Madonna of Mercy with two allegorical figures, by Andrea Falcone.
The church has an octagonal plan, with a luminous dome and side chapels decorated with canvases by other 17th-century painters: among them Battistello Caracciolo, who painted the Liberation of Saint Peter for 100 ducats, and Luca Giordano with the Deposition of Christ, paid 200 ducats.