Photo: IlSistemone · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Galleria dell'Accademia di Napoli

Art gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli, with paintings and sculptures from the 16th century to the contemporary period, including the collection of the Palizzi brothers.

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About the museum

The idea of turning the collection of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli into a gallery of modern art dates back to 1891, when Filippo Palizzi was president. In 1896 Palizzi donated to the gallery his collection and that of his brothers, together with works by French artists. After its opening in 1916 the museum closed for a time because of structural problems, the 1930 earthquake and the transfer of its storerooms, and it reopened in June 2005 with a new scientific project curated by Aurora Spinosa.

The current display, curated by Federica De Rosa and Marco Di Capua, presents the work of the schools, masters and students, with works recovered from storage and works by contemporary artists. The core of Old Masters (16th to early 18th century) comprises 28 paintings, including works by Mattia Preti, Hendrick de Somer and Viviano Codazzi. The canvases “Nozze di Cana” (attributed to Luca Giordano) and “San Luca che dipinge la Madonna” returned to the Accademia in 2021.

The following sections include portraits and self-portraits of artists linked to the institution (Palizzi, Morelli, Gemito, Altamura), 19th-century landscapes of the Scuola di Posillipo and of Giacinto Gigante, the realism and verism of Cammarano, Patini and Mancini, sculptures by Gemito and Lista, early 20th-century works by Casciaro, Ciardo and Notte, and finally abstraction, Informel, photography and sculpture of the second half of the 20th century. The Accademia also houses a gallery of plaster casts and sculptures, used for teaching.