A new venue for the Gallerie d’Italia in Naples Where art welcomes the city and its people.

On 21 May the new Intesa Sanpaolo Gallerie d’Italia exhibition venue opened to the public in Naples, moving from Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano to the monumental historic headquarters of the former Banco di Napoli in via Toledo  177. The opening of the new museum in Naples followed a few days after that of the new museum in Turin’s Piazza San Carlo.

The new Gallerie d’Italia in Naples were designed, like those  in Turin, by Michele De Lucchi,  one of Italy’s most well-known architects, in the magnificent building of the Banco di Napoli designed in 1940 by Marcello Piacentini. Also the new museum in Naples’ via Toledo aims to underscore the presence of Gallerie d’Italia in the city’s social fabric, in order to encourage the emergence of virtuous cultural dynamics and the enhancement of the artistic heritage of Intesa Sanpaolo.

The new museum has three times the space, covering a total floor area of 10,000 square metres, approximately 4,000 square metres of which dedicated exhibition space, arranged on five floors.  The building has been renovatedon the basis of an ambitious architectural design which has managed to preserve its historical value, following a design approach in keeping with the standards adopted by the most innovative major international museums  

The large ground-floor area gives directly onto the street, thus inviting passers-by to come in. The Gallerie d’Italia of Naples will be a meeting place, a place of sharing and personal growth, a place to be experienced to the full in addition to and at the same time as its exhibition offering. 

The Gallerie d’Italia of Naples present three important exhibition routes, featuring artworks belonging to Intesa Sanpaolo’s artistic-historical heritage: Neapolitan and Southern Italian art from the 17th century to the 20th century, representing the connections between the museum and the local area, with Caravaggio’s masterpiece, the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula. Furthermore, there is also a collection of Attic and Magna Graecia pottery displayed in its entirety for the first time, together with a remarkable selection of works from the Twentieth Century

The impressive ground-floor area, which directly gives onto the street,  will host events and temporary exhibitions. A library, linked to the National Library Service, will be open to the public on the first floor, where educational activities will also take place.

Up until 25 September the public can visit the temporary exhibition “Fragility  and Strength”, the final exhibition of the 19th edition of the two-year  Restituzioni programme led for over 30 years by Intesa Sanpaolo in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, aimed at safeguarding and promoting Italy’s artistic heritage.

Over 200 restored artworks from public and diocesan museums, churches, other places of worship and archaeological sites, which testify to the wealth of Italy’s artistic heritage and span a total of twenty-six centuries, from ancient to modern times, offer an overview reflecting the idea of an “extended museum” across the country.