LITTLE PRINCE OF CASERTA BACK ON VIEW
The interest shown by visitors in the sculpture of the “Little Prince of Caserta,” which was on exhibit last year 2022 in the Cappella Palatina in the Royal Palace of Naples, has prompted curators to put it on permanent show. This time, the life-size image of the baby prince Carlo Tito, born in 1775 and the first male heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Naples, has been placed inside the newly restored royal bedroom in the Palace of Caserta, just outside Naples. His mother, Queen Maria Carolina of Austria, commissioned the portrait of the sleeping infant from the sculptor Giuseppe Sanmartino, author of the celebrated “Cristo Velato” (the Veiled Christ) in the Sansevero Chapel Museum, one of the most admired artistic treasures of Naples.
Unfortunately Carlo Tito died at the age of four. The Little Prince sculpture lies on a cushion near the royal bed under the painting by the artist Girolamo Pompeo Batoni depicting himself and his little sister, Princess Marianne, who also died in infancy, being hoisted up to heaven by angels.
The Royal Palace of Caserta sits in an 11-acre park. Palace and gardens are open every day except Tuesday.
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STENHOUSE
Info: Tel. +39.0823.448084 https://reggiadicaserta.cultura.gov.it
