Category Archives: Places to see in Naples

Naples, Italy: the Museo Civico Gaetano Filangieri

by

This is a look back at a post written at the end of May, 2016. It’s about a small museum in Naples, Italy whose founder sought to save the skills and treasures of craftsmen before they were buried by the Industrial Revolution. There is care and pride in every detail.

The Phraser

The Museo Civico Gaetano Filangieri in Naples, Italy The Museo Civico Gaetano Filangieri in Naples, Italy

The best treasure comes in chests, compact and crowded, that brim with what’s been most precious … and there should always be scars.

The Museo Filangieri is a chest like this.

View original post 842 more words

Madre: the museum of contemporary art in Napoli

by

This piece, first published in April 2016, was written after my first visit to the Madre in Naples. I loved the museum’s calm space, the range of its exhibits … and its roof terrace.

The Phraser

Internal courtyard of the Museo Madre in Naples, Italy with art by Mimmo Paladino on the roof Internal courtyard of the Museo Madre in Naples, Italy with art by Mimmo Paladino on the roof

Art is a place to be, a place that tries to reach us, provoke us. It swallows the rules, the clocks, the to and fro, and waits for us to respond.

Much of Naples itself is art – ancient, modern, faded, alive – but it does not have the quiet, the spaces between, that the Madre brings to its displays.  This is the luxury of a visit to the Madre, the chance to leave the hectic city and step into its  calm.

View original post 749 more words

The Villa Pignatelli, two dogs, and a carriage museum in Naples, Italy

by

A look back (first published 9 March 2016): the Villa Pignatelli – owned by the Actons, the Rothschilds, and the Pignatellis – is now a museum and, together with its carriage display, well worth a visit if you’re lucky enough to be in Chiaia in Napoli.

The Phraser

Villa Pignatelli in Naples, Italy Villa Pignatelli in Naples, Italy

This villa – white and recently restored – sits in the lap of one of the most crowded cities in Europe.  It has the blue sea to its front, colour behind, and is wrapped in an exclusive coat of green.

Its striking, classical profile is very different to the buildings that now surround it.

View original post 1,020 more words