 |
| The beautifully decorated sanctuary at Our Lady of Peace Church |
After Mass, I traveled to Manhattan, walking past Central Park transformed by the morning snowfall into a true winter wonderland, and made my way to the Frick Collection. There, I finally viewed To the Holy Sepulcher: Treasures from the Terra Sancta Museum (October 2–January 5). The exhibition features more than forty rare objects donated by Catholic monarchs and Holy Roman Emperors to Jerusalem, preserved and used ever since by the Franciscan friars who maintain the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Photography was prohibited.
Among the most striking works was the monumental Neapolitan silver Resurrection from 1736, depicting Christ rising from the tomb. The anonymous Neapolitan sculptor who made this relief may have based it on designs by the great Avellinese painter Francesco Solimena (1657–1747). Its size and intensity stayed with me long after leaving the gallery.
From there, I headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the annual Angel Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche. A twenty-foot spruce rises in the Medieval Sculpture Hall, decorated with angels and figures from eighteenth-century Naples, set before the Spanish choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid.
With some extra time, I explored the Fanmania exhibit and was pleasantly surprised to find several fans from nineteenth-century Europe decorated with images of Vesuvius erupting. Once again, Naples was everywhere—singing, sculpted, and unmistakably alive.
~ By Giovanni di Napoli, December 14th, the Feast of Sant’Agnello di Napoli
 |
| (Above & below) Central Park, transformed into a winter wonderland |
 |
| (Above & below) One Hundred Seventh Infantry Memorial by Karl Illava (1896-1954) in Central Park along Fifth Avenue at 67th Street |
 |
| The Resurrection, 1736, Silver, Naples, Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem. Photo courtesy of the Frick Collection |
 |
| Model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, 18th century, olive and pistachio wood, mother-of-pearl, camel bone, Palestinian Craftsmen |
 |
| (L) Marine Nymph, bronze, after Stoldo Lorenzi. (R) Bust of Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Third Duke of Alba, bronze, 1571, by Jacques Jonghelinck |
 |
| Angel Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche |
 |
| (L) St. Mary Magdalene, limestone with traces of paint, ca. 1500-1525, French. (R) St. Roch, oak with paint and gilding, early 1500s, French, Normandy |
 |
| (Above & below) Details from the Angel Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche |
 |
| (L) St. George and the Dragon, carved ca. 1475, wood, gilded and painted, attributed to Hans Klocker (Austrian, act. 1474-1502). (R) St. George and the Dragon, limewood with paint and gilding, South German, Swabia, ca. 1460-70 |
 |
| Donor Figures: King, Queen, and Prince, marble with traces of paint and gilding, carved and painted about 1350, French |
 |
| Folding fan with a representation of the 1806 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, ca. 1815, opaque watercolor on parchment; mother-of-pearl with spangles, Italian |
 |
| Fan design with views of Mount Vesuvius and the Tomb of Virgil, 1779, opaque watercolor on parchment, Italian |
 |
| Fan with depictions of Spanish folk costumes, early 19th century, hand colored lithograph with gold leaf; ivory, sequins, silver gilt, enamel, mother-of-pearl, silver luster paper, metal, Spanish |
 |
| (L) Dios la perdone: Y ere su madre, plate 16 from Los Caprichos, 1799, etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828). (R) Two Gentlemen and a Lady, late 1850s—early 1860s? Pen and brown ink, brush and watercolor, over graphite with touches of red chalk, Constantin Guys (French, 1802-1892) |
 |
| (L) Seated woman playing with a fan, ca. 1726, printed ca. 1920. François Boucher (French, 1703-1770). (R) The Toilet, 1878, lithotint, with scraping and incising, on a prepared half-tint ground; second state of five, James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903) |
 |
| Elvira, 1867, Countess Virginia Oldoini Verasis di Castiglione (Italian, 1835-1899), gelatin silver print, 1940s, Pierre-Louis Pierson (French, 1822-1913) |
