The rebirth of the Museo di Capodimonte e Real Bosco

An alleyway opposite the Museo di Capodimonte nicknamed the "syringe alley", child prostitution, the body of a young drug-addicted man discovered in a grove, lawns in poor condition, an unkempt, dirty and dangerous park... Such was the Bosco Reale di Capodimonte, one of Italy’s most important historic gardens, which stretches over 120 hectares in front of the former royal palace housing the Museo di Capodimonte (ill. 1) and part of the same administrative complex. A catastrophic situation that one might have thought impossible to remedy.

1. The Museo di Capodimonte
June 2022
Photo: Didier Rykner

See the image in its page

Yet this is what Sylvain Bellenger, the French director of the museum, has managed to do in just a few years. After eight years at the helm of the institution (see news item of 2/9/15), he will be handing over the reins in November, as will Eike Schmidt, the German director of the Uffizi Gallery. The current directors could, however, reapply for the post they already hold, but Gennaro Sangiuliano, the Minister for Culture in the Meloni government, has issued a decree prohibiting this. The Italians, who had been pioneers in Europe by recruiting several museum directors from abroad, are now pursuing the opposite policy. This is a regrettable decision for Capodimonte, given that the museum is due to be largely closed for renovation and that several projects are underway to complete the renaissance of this heritage and natural site that the French director has led since his arrival. These projects will therefore have to continue without him. This decision is being strongly contested in Naples, where a petition launched three weeks ago already signed by more than 2,600 people, is calling for Sylvain Bellenger to at least be appointed "commissario straordinario" to lead the project.

2. The lawns in front of the museum
June 2023
Photo: Didier Rykner

See the image in its page

3. Football pitches in the park
June 2023
Photo: Didier Rykner

See the image in its page

4. The lawns in front of the museum
March 2011
Photo: Francesco Boggia (CC BY-3.0)

See the image in its page

Whatever part of the garden you walk through, it’s hard to believe your eyes. The park is magnificent and you’d think you were in England. There’s not a single piece of paper on the ground, and the lawns are in excellent condition. The ones in front of the museum (ill. 1 and 2) were used as football pitches by local children. Sylvain Bellenger offered to move them much further into the park, to a less sensitive area (ill. 3), where he even created a cricket pitch that the Sri Lankan and Filipino communities, particularly numerous in Naples, had been asking for. The lawns, once trampled and littered with rubbish, are now lush and green, and the guards are careful to prevent anyone from stepping on them. And they mean business: the slightest misstep is immediately spotted and a whistle…