Head to Head: Veiled Christ vs. David

HEAD TO HEAD

SANMARTINO’S VEILED CHRIST

Italy is famed for its Renaissance art – but which city state is best to discover

Art, especially

sculpture, is intimately entwined with the history of Italy’s city states, from ancient Roman figures of Jupiter to evocative contemporary installations at Venice’s Biennale. Here, two of our Italy specialists contemplate how the cities of Florence and Naples are reflected in their statuary – Michelangelo’s David, which is known around the world, and Sanmartino’s Veiled Christ, which is beloved inside Italy but largely unknown elsewhere.

SANMARTINO’S VEILED CHRIST, NAPLES

By Eva Costanza Seeing the Veiled Christ is a lot like visiting Naples itself. You begin on hectic Spaccanapoli (the long, straight Roman road that splits the city down the middle) and then turn off to walk down a narrow street whose walls are scrawled with graffiti. Go through an unremarkable wooden door, however, and you discover a small Baroque chapel that contains the most celebrated sculpture

you’ve likely never heard of – Giuseppe Sanmartino’s Cristo Velato, or Veiled Christ.

The 18th-century figure, which lies as if in state in the Cappella Sansevero (above image), is a masterwork in marble. The body of Christ is draped in a transparent veil, its many folds rendered with such skill that it’s hard to believe it’s stone and not sheer voile. You can make out the tiny details on his hands and feet, seemingly through the marble, but the most moving aspect is probably the face. Seen at one angle, it’s a portrait of anguish, but as you move around the head, it resolves into a peaceful, even ethereal, expression of repose.

To many Italians – certainly to most Neapolitans – this is the greatest piece of

sculpture in the world. And, you can contemplate it in the peace it deserves – most visitors don’t even know to search it out in the first place.

That’s Naples in a nutshell. Many people overlook this loud urban jungle, but the city rewards visitors with one of the most authentic Italian experiences you can have. I suggest lingering for at least two days – one for a guided walking tour, which includes the Cappella Sansevero, and another for a privately guided visit to the National Archaeological Museum.

Naples’ name, from the ancient Greek for ‘new city’, hints at its ancient roots, which you can explore at the museum. Its blockbuster exhibit is the haunting array of relics unearthed at nearby Pompeii. However, don’t overlook the Farnese Collection, Pope Paul III’s trove of artwork from antiquity. I particularly like the huge statue of Hercules, which was dug up at Rome’s Baths of Caracalla. It’s a rare depiction of the Greek demigod in a less-than-heroic pose as he slumps against his club, exhausted from his toils.

Get me there: An eight-day trip of southern Italy, including a walking tour of Naples, starts from $7,165pp. For more information, please call our Italy specialists on 1-855-787-3971.

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HEAD TO HEAD

vs MICHELANGELO’S DAVID

a masterpiece? Bustling Naples or the classical history of Florence?

MICHELANGELO’S DAVID, FLORENCE

By Alanna Blackburn Seeing him depicted hundreds of times didn’t lessen David’s impact when I finally saw him in person. When I turned into the long gallery at the Galleria dell’Accademia and saw the gleaming white statue – nearly the height of three men – in person for the first time, I was stunned to stillness for a second. Carefully positioned in a purpose-built space, Michelangelo’s clean lines and startlingly lifelike detail seem to breathe in the pure sunlight that pours down over it.

This is a moment you can’t get anywhere else – seeing Western art’s most famous statue in the city where it was carved. Commissioned and created while Michelangelo was still in his 20s, it was intended for display on a tribune (statue-sized niche) near the top of the Duomo (right image).

However, the city fathers immediately spotted its genius and adopted the work as a symbol of the Republic of Florence rather than exiling it so high up. It was moved with much fanfare over the course of four days from the artist’s workshop to take pride of place in the Piazza della Signoria, the square in front of the city’s seat of government, now known as the Palazzo Vecchio. Then,

in 1873, it was transferred to the Accademia to protect it from the elements, though you can still see a replica in its original position.

David embodies the ideals of the European Renaissance, when the arts and culture moved away from the two-dimensional, simplified art of the Middle Ages toward something more expansive. Michelangelo depicted a Biblical figure, yes, but he used a realistic style, a contrapposto pose and a focus on human anatomy, which all harkened back to the classical statues of ancient Greece.

The museum can get crowded, but with careful timing and a skip-the-line ticket, you can avoid the worst of the throngs. A private guide, with an art background, offers you new insights into not only the

gallery’s centerpiece, but also the other works, including Michelangelo’s Prigioni. These unfinished works, whose name means slaves or prisoners, are a series of torsos that seem to fight to break free of the uncarved marble blocks and they seem almost contemporary in their rawness.

Much like Michelangelo’s David, Florence dazzles on first sight and you could easily make David and Florence itself the focus of your trip to Italy. However, it can just as easily act as your launchpad to wider Tuscany. Tromp through the countryside, looking for truffles with a trained dog and a master truffle hunter, or explore medieval hilltop villages.

However, don’t let the glories of statuary and the countryside distract you from the rest of the city – I’d spend at least an afternoon wandering through the historic core, under the buttery Tuscan sunshine, admiring the stone-paved streets, striped marble churches, the Ponte Vecchio, and the sunset over the Arno. Head up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, where you’ll find a bronze copy of David himself.

Get me there: A ten-day tour of Rome, Florence and Venice, including a privately guided tour of the Accademia, starts from $5,335pp. For more information, please call our Italy specialists on 1-855-787-3971.

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