The Villa Pignatelli is a museum in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in southern Italy. The villa is located along the Riviera di Chiaia, the road bounding the north side of the

Villa Comunale The Villa Comunale is a park in Naples, southern Italy. It was built in the 1780s by King Ferdinand IV (later known as Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies) on land reclaimed along the coast between the main body of the city and the small port of M ...

on the sea front between

Mergellina Mergellina is a coastal district of the city of Naples, Italy. It is located in the quartiere of Chiaia. It stands at the foot of the Posillipo Hill and faces the Castel dell'Ovo. Some people say the name derives from "mergoglino", a local name for ...

and Piazza Vittoria.

History and Decoration

The villa was commissioned by admiral Ferdinand Acton in 1826 as a neo-classical residence that would be the centerpiece of a park. The design was completed by the architect Pietro Valente. The central atrium was moved to the front of the building and

Doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

still catch the eye of the viewer from the street away. The architect Guglielmo Bechi designed the interior decorations of the apartments and the marble entrance staircase. He recruited sculptors to complete the neoclassical depiction of ''Alcibides and the Hounds''. The property has changed hands since construction: upon the death of Acton in 1841, it was bought by Carl Mayer von Rothschild of the German family of financiers. His monogram of CR can be seen in the first floor. For a time it was used by the Jewish community of Naples for services. In 1867, it was sold to the Duke of Monteleón, Diego Pignatelli Aragona y Cortes, whose widow the Princess Rosa Fici of the Dukes of Amafi then willed it to the Italian state in 1952, with instructions that the house and its possessions not be altered. The villa maintains the gardens in front of the building, and houses a coach museum and a collection of French and English vehicles from the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1975, the Principe Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortés Museum and the Carriage Museum located in the northern part of the garden were inaugurated.

References

External links

Museo Pignatelli official website
{{authority control Pignatelli Neoclassical architecture in Naples Houses completed in 1826 Rothschild family residences Museums in Naples Art museums and galleries in Naples Carriage museums in Italy 1826 establishments in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies 1826 establishments in Italy National museums of Italy