Piazza San Domenico Maggiore is one of the most interesting squares in Naples, situated on Spaccanapoli, the main street next to the Historic Center. It is home to one of the most important attractions, the Museum of the Cappella Sansevero. Capella Sansevero sculpted some of the best work in the Baroque art community. The museum is also known as the Alchemists chapel, where Freemasons continue to gather today, and the chapel served as a private mausoleum to the Sansevero family.
Surrounding the most famous sculpture of Jesus Christ are a path of statues representing the virtues. These virtues were carefully developed to correspond with ideal values that clarify the path of self-knowing and self-growth. The statues of the virtues; Divine Love, Education, Self-Control, Sincerity, Disillusion, Modesty, Liberality, and Decorum are carved in the same manner as the Veiled Christ.
The photo featured in this post is the virtue of Disillusion. The feeling you get when you are disappointed, or unhappy because of discovering the truth about something or someone that you liked or respected. The detailed work in the sculpture is in its true form an illusion. In my first visit to this museum, my eyes deceived me. I thought this was an actual rope the angel was helping to remove. It was only during my second visit on another day that I realized, it was not rope at all. The rope was carefully sculpted from the same piece of marble.
