Two Velázquez masterpieces loaned from London to Naples

Two early masterpieces by Diego Velázquez—the Immaculate Conception and Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos—have been loaned by the National Gallery of London to the Gallerie d'Italia in Naples. They will be displayed from April 24 to July 14, 2024, alongside two other Immaculate Conception paintings: one by Paolo Finoglio from the Franciscan convent of San Lorenzo Maggiore, and one by Battistello Caracciolo from the church of the Natività della Beata Maria Vergine in Roccadaspide, Cilento. The exhibition is part of the 14th edition of 'L'Ospite illustre,' a program initiated by Intesa Sanpaolo in 2015 to promote high-level loans and exchanges. The Velázquez works occupy the space usually reserved for Caravaggio's Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, which is currently on loan to the National Gallery for its bicentennial exhibition 'The Last Caravaggio.' The show highlights the influence of Caravaggesque naturalism on Velázquez and underscores the artist's personal ties to Naples, where he stayed twice: first between summer 1629 and late 1630, and later from January 1649 to June 1651, during which he received a payment of 154 scudi at the Banco di San Giacomo, the very building that now houses the Gallerie d'Italia.