THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DELLE ANIMA DEL PURGATORIO AD ARCO

“The Opera Pia Purgatorio ad Arco is pleased to welcome to our church, which is part of the Museum Complex, a work by Jan Fabre, one of the most important artists on the international scene.

The institution that I represent has an ancient history: it officially came into being in 1606 through a papal bull issued by Paul V, on the initiative of a group of Neapolitan gentlemen who wished to establish a lay association that would take care of the burial of the dead and the cult of souls in Purgatory. The association’s aims also included tending the sick, helping the families of convicts, and making donations to poor maidens who were to marry. These various charitable activities have never ceased; indeed, our historic medical ambulatory has recently been reopened. Another of the Opera Pia’s objectives is the preservation and enhancement of its extraordinary cultural and anthropological heritage. Among the anime pezzentelle (anonymous or abandoned souls) that dwell here and the masterpieces by Massimo Stanzione, Andrea Vaccaro, Luca Giordano, Andrea Falcone, Girolamo dello Mastro and Dionisio Lazzari, a new artwork is now on display.

It’s Jan Fabre’s exquisite The Number 85 (with Angel Wings), an amazing sculpture that fits perfectly in the chancel as one more piece in a complex iconographic programme devoted to the relationship between the living and the dead. Our choosing of Jan Fabre has made us realize yet again that Neapolitan cultural heritage offers a wealth of stimuli and endless possibilities for reinterpretation. Fabre’s work of art will now become part of our cultural heritage: for this, I myself and the councillors are grateful to the artist and to Gianfranco D’Amato and Vincenzo Liverino for their most generous act of patronage. I would personally like to thank Councillor Adolfo Mutarelli for supporting this important donation, which, in the name of cultural renewal, brings to our city another masterpiece: we pledge to preserve and enhance it in the best possible way.”

Giuseppe d’Acunto President, Opera Pia Purgatorio ad Arco, March 2019