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Eight Statues, Eight Sculptors
One of the most
visited points in Naples is Piazza
Plebiscito, the large public square bounded on
opposite sides by the Royal
Palace and the great church of San Francesco di Paola. At
that point, one can view the western façade of
the palace and the symmetrical array of eight
full-length statues, set in niches, four on each side of
the main entrance. The statues represent, in
chronological order, the seven dynasties that
ruled Naples from the 12th to the 19th century plus a
statue to mark the dynasty that ruled Italy from the
incorporation of the Kingdom of Naples into the modern
nation state of Italy in 1861 until the monarchy was
abolished in Italy in 1946. The statues were installed
in 1888 at the behest of King Umberto I. Facing the
statues, in order from left to right, they are:
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Roger II, the Norman
(ruled from 1130-1154)
—Sculptor: Emilio
Franceschi (1839-90) Franceschi was from
Florence. He also sculpted prominently in wood;
among many other items, he did the ornate wooden
chimney-breast in the Tirrenia building (a.k.a.
Palazzo Sirignano)
in Naples. His most visible creation in
Naples—in addition to this statue of Roger II
—is the monument
to King Victor Emanuel II in Piazza Municipio.
He was the designer of the monument but died,
leaving the completion to others.
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F
Frederick II of
Hohenstaufen (1211-1250)
—Sculptor: Emanuele
Caggiano,
(1837-1905). Born in Benevento, Caggiano was one
of the important sculptors working in Naples in
the second half of the 1800s. He taught
sculpture at the Naples Royal Art Academy
from 1878 on. Besides this depiction of
Frederick II, another well-known work of his in
Naples is Virtues of the Martyrs
set atop the high monument column in the middle
of Martyrs' Square. |
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Charles
of Anjou (1266-1285)
—Sculptor: Tommaso
Solari (1820-1889)
—not to be confused with his sculptor
grandfather, also Tommaso, from the 1700s, who
has works in the Villa Comunale
in Naples. Besides this statue of Charles of Anjou, the
younger Solari did the statue of Italian
patriot, Carlo
Poerio, in Piazza San Pasquale. Also,
he was one of the sculptors who did the
monument to Victor Emanuel II in Piazza
Municipio; as well, he (together with
sculptor, Tito
Angelini, created the statue of Dante
in Piazza Dante and
was one of the sculptors of the lions on the
monument column at Piazza
dei Martiri.
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 —Sculptor
Achille D'Orsi
(1845-1929). D'Orsi was the son of
a small landowner and entered the Royal Academy
of Fine Arts in Naples in 1857. His main
interest was realism, and other than this
stature of Alfonso, his noted works include his
early terracotta, Wounded Soldier of Garibaldi
and, later, The
Parasites (a depiction of drunken Roman
revelers) and Proximus
tuus, a life-sized statue of an
exhausted laborer—a work widely reproduced in
late 19th-century Socialist propaganda. D'Orsi
also created the prominent bronze statue of
Umberto I on via Nazario Sauro in
Naples.
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Charles
V of Hapsburg
(1520-1558)
—Sculptor:
Vincenzo Gemito,
(1852 -1929). Gemito was an eccentric of
almost Dickensian origins, having been
abandoned as an infant at the famous Annunziata orphanage.
He was later adopted, worked as an apprentice
painter and sculptor, and then enrolled in the
Naples Academy of
Fine Arts at the age of 12. Besides this
statue of Charles V, he is well known for his
terracotta piece, The Player, (Il
Giocatore), done when he was only 16. He
displayed successfully in Paris (notably, the
Neapolitan Fisherboy), then returned to
Naples and opened his own foundry to revive
the Renaissance art of the wax process for
bronze casting. He spent many years in a
mental hospital, but later returned to his
work. |
Charles
III of Bourbon (1734-1759)
—Sculptor: Raffaele Belliazzi (1835–1917).
Belliazzi was prominent among Realist sculptors
in post-unification Italy and among those
sculptors in Naples who belonged to the
so-called "Resina" school, many of whom opened
studios in the ex-Royal Palace of Portici (now
part of the agricultural department of the
university of Naples). Besides this statue of
Charles III, Belliazzi created the monument
tribute to King Umberto I to recall the
monarch's visit to Naples during the cholera
epidemic of 1884. The statue is done in volcanic
rock and is in the Sanità section of
Naples near the Capodimonte roundabout.
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Gioacchino Murat (1808-1815)
—Sculptor: Giovanni
B. Amendola
(1848–87). Amendola was from
Sarno and studied in Naples at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Besides this statue of Murat, other works by
Amendola in Naples include the bust of
architect Enrico
Alvino on the grounds of the Villa Comunale.
In nearby Salerno, his sculpture, Pergolesi
Dying, is at the opera house. He
moved to England and some of his works were
commissioned abroad and remain there to this
day, including the well-known bronze of a
pensive woman entitled The Dominant
Thought and his striking 21"-high
bronze of a young couple, entitled Wedded.
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Victor Emanuel II of Savoy
(1861-1878)
— Sculptor: Francesco Jerace (1854
–1937). This painter and sculptor was from
Calabria and went to Naples to attend the Royal Academy of Fine
Arts. Besides this statue of the first
king of united Italy, he is most known for his
contribution—a group statue
called L'Azione—to
the national monument to King Victor Emanuel II
in Rome. A somewhat hidden work
of his in Naples is the statue of Beethoven in
the courtyard of the Naples
Conservatory. He also did a great number
of famous literary and political figures of the
day, including Carducci and King Umberto I,
located in many places throughout Italy and,
indeed, internationally. The museum in his
birthplace of Polistena is named for him. |
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Instant folklore:
As soon as these statues went up, local wags coined
pithy, vulgar expressions in dialect to put in the
mouths of some of the monarchs. They were "saying
certain things". I have been unable as yet
to determine if the first four have such sayings
connected with them, but statues 5 through 8 are
solid:
Charles V, accusatorily pointing to
the ground with his right hand, is saying, "Chi ha pisciato cca
n'terra?!" ("Who peed on the ground right
here?!");
Charles III, daintily looking down,
says, "Ma guarda
che fettienti..." ("Just look what disgusting
pigs...");
Murat, with his hand melodramatically
splayed against his breast in a "Who, Moi?!" gesture
says, "Giuro che
non sono stato io" ("I swear 'twas not I.")
Victor Emanuel, with his sword raised
on high, thunders, "Tagliammolo
'o
pesce!" (Roughly, "Off with his d***!")
I love doing real research.
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sources: For some of the information
on the sculptors, I have used various entries in the Grove Encyclopedia of
Art as well as a volume entitled Le Statue di Napoli
by Nicola Della Monica, Newton and Compton, Rome,
1996.
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