The San Felice or Sanfelice Palace ( it, Palazzo San Felice ) is a

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

or late-

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

-style palace at Via Sanità 167 in

Rione Sanità Rione Sanità (literally "Health Neighbourhood" in Italian) is a neighbourhood in Naples, part of the Stella quarter. It is located north of Naples' historical centre, adjacent to the Capodimonte hill. History What is now Rione Sanità was a buri ...

in central Naples. It is best known for its elaborate staircase.

History

The Palace was erected during 1724 to 1726 by the architect

Ferdinando Sanfelice Ferdinando Sanfelice (1675 – 1 April 1748) was an Italian late Baroque architect and painter. Sanfelice was born in Naples and died there. He was one of the principal architects in Naples in the first half of the 18th century. He was a stude ...

. The entrance portal has two stucco sirens of the Sanfelice family. Through an indistinct façade one enters to an interior octagonal courtyard leads to a double ramp stairwell. The interior frescoes originally by

Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian painter of the Baroque era, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of ...

are now lost. The staircases with arches in shifting planes still grants an aura of complex scenography, despite its present cramped and dilapidated state: a grandiose entrance leading only to a decrepit palace.Comune of Naples
The nearby Palazzo dello Spagnolo is attributed to the same architect and has similar staircases.

References

Sanfelice, Naples San Felice 1726 establishments in Italy Buildings and structures completed in 1726 Rione Sanità 18th-century architecture in Italy {{Italy-struct-stub