The Incurabili complex at Sanità reopens, over 4 thousand masterpieces returned to the city

In the heart of the Rione Sanita', in Naples, one of the most fascinating and forgotten places in the city reopens: the Complex of Santa Maria del Popolo degli Incurabili. A historic site that returns to the forefront thanks to a major restoration and enhancement project. Abandoned for years, the complex - known to Neapolitans simply as the Incurabili - holds an extraordinary heritage of art, science and faith. A true open-air museum, hidden among the stones of ancient Naples, today finally returned to the city, and of which it is now possible to admire a first selection of works of art, around 4,000 masterpieces, long remained in the shadows and often damaged by time and neglect. Paintings, sculptures and canvases come back to life thanks to the work of restorers, historians and institutions. The project is part of a larger redevelopment plan promoted by the Campania Region with the collaboration of the Superintendence, the ASL Napoli 1 Centro, which manages the complex annexed to the hospital of the same name, and the Museum of Health Arts. The first phase of the restoration concerns art collections that had been part of a museum itinerary since the end of the 19th century. These are original works, often little known, from the various hospitals of the network of the Ospedali Riuniti di Napoli, of which the Incurabili was the leader. “We are certain that we are only at the beginning of a journey that will see the Santa Maria del Popolo degli Incurabili Complex as the protagonist of a rebirth, capable of illuminating the present and opening new horizons, making the value of its extraordinary artistic heritage and its clinical-assistance and social-health role increasingly visible,” explains Ciro Verdoliva, general director of the ASL. A 'restoration atelier' has also been set up inside the structure, with transparent walls and scientific machinery, to allow citizens and tourists to observe the experts at work up close. Among the first works recovered are the painting of the Madonna Assunta, the canvas of the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew and a wooden sculpture of the Deposed Christ, dating back to the end of the sixteenth century, used during processions and equipped with a wig made of real hair. The restoration coordinator is Cinzia Pasquali, already active at the Louvre and curator of important interventions at an international level. “We have secured these 4,000 works, catalogued and digitised them to perform an accurate diagnosis and choose the most suitable restoration intervention for each one,” he explains. “The canvas of the Madonna Assunta was deformed, marked by humidity and in a critical state of conservation. Its recovery was truly surprising.” An exhibition, inaugurated a few days ago, shares the work done so far with the city, describes the technical interventions up close, shows the “before and after” images and explains why saving these assets means protecting a fundamental piece of Neapolitan cultural identity.