The Collection, located on the 2nd floor of Palazzo Zapata, represents the art known as “Neapolitan 19th century” and was developed over 120 years of social activity of the Circolo Artistico Politecnico, founded in 1888 at Edoardo Dalbono’s home by a group of professional painters and art lovers under the original name of “Society of Artists”.
The institution had as its first president Prince Giuseppe Caravita di Sirignano, to whom the Museum is dedicated. The center was also the site of Naples’ first School of Dramatic Art and the prestigious Neapolitan Chess Academy.
The Museum occupies a substantial 1600 square meters and is the result of the donation by members who intended to provide the established Association not only with a sustaining patrimony but above all to offer the public a heritage that even today stands as a witness of that century, which represents one of the most flourishing periods in the city of Naples.
In the splendid rooms, furnished according to the taste of 19th-century parlors, there are preserved pictorial and sculptural works covering the chronological span from the late 19th century to the second half of the 20th century, with a very valuable artistic heritage. Moreover, a vast library, documentary, and photographic collection is preserved here.
