DOI chapter:
Chapter III: Past and Present - Santa Lucia, etc.
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.59000#0129
Past and Present—Santa Lucia, Etc.
Biagio, and, not far from it, that of Capua, conte di
Altavilla and not all were built by foreigners, for
there were a few Neapolitan architects, though even
those are sometimes wrongly termed Florentine. In
those days Florentine and Siennese painters and archi-
tects were so common in Naples that the native crafts-
man was overshadowed. There is, perhaps, only one
case of a Neapolitan artist of that time in Tuscany—a
certain Giovanni di Pietro, one of whose frescoes may
be seen in Pisa.
Every one has remarked the extraordinary facade
of S. Gesu, which, in spite of its latter-day usage, keeps
the stern and princely atmosphere of a palace. It
belonged to the Prince of Salerno, who made himself
a great favourite by giving splendid dramatic entertain-
ments,—for there was no public theatre in the middle
ages. Only in the seventeenth century was a regular
theatre instituted ; under the Spanish rule half of all
profits from dramatic entertainments was given to the
hospitals.
Naples is now full of theatres—from the Florentine,
where Duse acted as a girl in Goldoni’s comedies, to
the Mercadante, where Scarpetta acts in his own plays :
almost the only actor Naples has produced in the last
decade,—but the drama is not of a high order, and
even that “ fanciful folly” which, Disraeli says, finds
its way into their extemporary comedy is singularly
lacking.
The streets in the direction of S. Gesu and Basso
Porto lead into many a poor vicolo, which the
59
Biagio, and, not far from it, that of Capua, conte di
Altavilla and not all were built by foreigners, for
there were a few Neapolitan architects, though even
those are sometimes wrongly termed Florentine. In
those days Florentine and Siennese painters and archi-
tects were so common in Naples that the native crafts-
man was overshadowed. There is, perhaps, only one
case of a Neapolitan artist of that time in Tuscany—a
certain Giovanni di Pietro, one of whose frescoes may
be seen in Pisa.
Every one has remarked the extraordinary facade
of S. Gesu, which, in spite of its latter-day usage, keeps
the stern and princely atmosphere of a palace. It
belonged to the Prince of Salerno, who made himself
a great favourite by giving splendid dramatic entertain-
ments,—for there was no public theatre in the middle
ages. Only in the seventeenth century was a regular
theatre instituted ; under the Spanish rule half of all
profits from dramatic entertainments was given to the
hospitals.
Naples is now full of theatres—from the Florentine,
where Duse acted as a girl in Goldoni’s comedies, to
the Mercadante, where Scarpetta acts in his own plays :
almost the only actor Naples has produced in the last
decade,—but the drama is not of a high order, and
even that “ fanciful folly” which, Disraeli says, finds
its way into their extemporary comedy is singularly
lacking.
The streets in the direction of S. Gesu and Basso
Porto lead into many a poor vicolo, which the
59