60 Koute 4. NAPLES. Cathedral.
Gcll. Lady Coventry, wife of General W. Pepe. The poet Matthias, near
the entrance, etc. etc.
From the Porta Capuana the broad Strada Carbonara leads to
the r. (as the town is approached) to S. Carlo all' Arena, whence
to the 1. beyond the Largo delle Pigne the Museum may be
reached. Where the street contracts, to the r. rises * S.Giovanni
a Carbonara (PL 54), erected in 1344 from a design of Masuccio
and enlarged by king Ladislaus, whose * monument, the master¬
piece of Andrea Ciccione, erected by his sister Johanna II. in
1414, stands at the back of the high-altar. Above is the eque¬
strian statue of Ladislaus; in a recess beneath, a sarcophagus
with the king in a recumbent posture, receiving the benediction
of a bishop; underneath, Ladislaus and Johanna; the whole is
supported by statues which represent the virtues of the deceased.
The Chapel del Sole, behind this monument, contains the "Tomb of
Sergianni Caracciolo, favourite of Johanna II., murdered in 1432, also by
A. Ciccione. Inscription by Lorenzo Valla. The frescoes, scenes from the
life of Mary, are by Leonardo da Busiccio of Milan, one of the last pupils
of Giotto. — The chapel of the Caraccioli Rossi, 1. of the high-altar, a cir¬
cular temple from the design of Girolamo Santacroce, contains statues of
4 apostles. The monuments of Galeazzo to the 1., and of "Colantonio Carac¬
ciolo opposite are by Scilla and Dom. d'Auria respectively. — The Sacristy
contains frescoes of New Testament scenes by Vasari, 1546. The chapel of
the Somma family at the opposite end of the church, now depository of
archives, is adorned with fine frescoes. — Near S. Giovanni a Carbonara
was once the arena for gladiator-combats, at which in the time of Johanna I.
and king Andreas Petrarch was a horror-stricken spectator.
And now back to the Tribunali and to the r. through the
animated Str. de' Tribunali, which running parallel with the Str.
Trinita. Maggiore and its prolongations, also terminates in the
Toledo. The small square of S. Gennaro on the r. is soon reached,
the column in which was erected after the appalling eruption of
Vesuvius in 1631 (p. 108). On the summit is the bronze figure
of the saint by Finelli; beneath, the inscription: "Divo Januario
patriae regnique prrcstantissimo tutelari grata Neapolis civi opt.
mer. excitavit."
The flight of steps ascends to the
* Cathedral (PL 46), il Duomo or V Arcivescovado, commenced
in 1272 by Charles I. of Anjou, from a design by Masuccio, en
the site of a temple of Neptune, with lofty towers and pointed
arches, situated between the Str. de' Tribunali and Str. dell'
Anticaglia. Robert, grandson of the founder, completed the edi¬
fice in 1316. In 1456 the church was almost entirely destroyed
by an earthquake, and subsequently rebuilt by Alfonso I. Since
that period it has undergone frequent alterations and restorations,
the last in 1837. It still, however, retains many of its original
characteristics.
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