AFC Newsletter Fall 2024
/The AFC Fall Newsletter
Our host, Director Thomas Campbell, Consul General Sergio Strozzi, and Capodimonte Director Eike Schmidt together with our AFC members at the exhibition Art & War in the Renaissance: The Battle of Pavia Tapestries at the de Young Museum, San Francisco.
A Word From the AFC President
Dear AFC members,
We’ve just returned from San Francisco and the de Young Museum’s opening of Art & War in the Renaissance: The Battle of Pavia Tapestries. Twelve AFC members joined us along with Capodimonte Director Schmidt and our AFC Fellow, Emma de Jong.
A warm thank you to Thomas Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, overseeing the de Young and Legion of Honor museums, for hosting us in grand fashion and to Isabella Lores-Chavez at the Legion of Honor as well. We are grateful to Dr. Alberta Lai for the Italian Cultural Institute’s party, where Italian Consul General Sergio Strozzi graciously addressed us and presented us with a thoughtful message from Ambassador Zappia. Finally, we want to thank Albiera Antinori and Antinori Napa Valley for an extraordinary day at the small-lot winery in the remote Atlas Peak District, made possible by Sara Nieddu, Karla Jensen, and winemaker Marla Carroll.
The search for the 2025-2026 AFC Fellow has officially begun! Please share this link to the application (https://www.americanfriendsofcapodimonte.info/afc-fellowship-about) and help us get the word out. It is a rare —in fact the only— opportunity for an American postdoctoral curator to work within an Italian museum. In order to promote our fellowship, the AFC commissioned ModioMedia to make three videos, which are included in the newsletter below.
Soon we will be announcing our 2025 AFC Trip and it is going to be epic! Members only will receive this announcement first. Have you renewed your subscription? We want you back! There’s still time to renew or become a member. The American Friends of Capodimonte is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and gifts are tax-deductible. Introductory membership is $100 annually and includes a quarterly subscription to the newsletter.
A $300 donation includes quarterly newsletter and advance notice of all trips and priority registration, special tours and other programming. AFC Trips are an additional charge. Should you be in Naples, membership always includes the opportunity to enjoy a tour of the Capodimonte Museum with our AFC Fellow (subject to their availability). For more information, email: americanfriendsofcapodimonte@gmail.com
While scholars and members of the media are not required to donate to receive the newsletter, we would welcome your tax-deductible contribution which supports the AFC Fellow in her or his scholarly pursuits.
Yours sincerely,
Cristina Del Sesto, AFC President
We Thank Our Donors
Please welcome Dott. Giovanni Lombardi as AFC Honorary President. Dott. Lombardi has supported the AFC with his in-kind gift of housing for two AFC Fellows. We would like to thank him and all of our 2024 donors to date.
Mary Avery, AFC Member
Robin Boss, AFC Member
Philip Davis, AFC Member
Ellen Dudash, AFC Member
Ellie Insley, AFC Member
Gabrielle Lesser, AFC Member
Marion Pardo, AFC Member
Duncan Pollock, AFC Member
Mark Robinson, AFC Member
Jay Secor, AFC Member
Trina Secor, AFC Member
Laura Segal, AFC Member
Cristina Del Sesto, President
Giovanni Lombardi, Honorary President
Nancy Vespoli, Vice Chair and
President Emeritus, and Mike Vespoli
Mary Ellen Countryman, Treasurer
Gretchen Hirschauer, Secretary
James Anno, Program Director
Vincent Buonanno, Founder and
President Emeritus
Victoria Gath, AFC Board Member
Henrietta Hakes, AFC Board Member
Bartley Livolsi, AFC Board Member, and
Julie Livolsi
Francis Prins, AFC Board Member, and
Ed Villani
Photo Album of the AFC Trip to San Francisco
On the first day of our trip to San Francisco we attended the exhibition opening of Art and War in the Renaissance: The Battle of Pavia Tapestries at the de Young museum.
Director Thomas Campbell gave a great introductory lecture, which was followed by a preview of the show.
After a toast with Dr. Eike Schmidt, director of the Capodimonte Museum, we made our way to dinner at Cotogna restaurant.
The next morning we returned to de Young Museum to enjoy a private tour of Art and War in the Renaissance: The Battle of Pavia Tapestries, led by Emma C. de Jong, our current AFC fellow, and James Anno, curator at the Houston Museum of Fine arts and the ‘17-’19 AFC fellow.
In the evening we were welcomed by Dr. Alberta Lai at the Italian Cultural Institute, where we listened to presentations by Dr. Thomas Campbell, Director and CEO of the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums; Dr. Eike Schmidt, Director of the Capodimonte Museum; Sergio Strozzi, Italian Consul General; and a digital message from Mariangela Zappia, Italian Ambassador to the United States.
On our final day in San Francisco we were guided through the Mary Cassatt at Work exhibition at the Legion of Honor by associate curator Dr. Isabella Lores-Chavez. The Legion of Honor will be be celebrating its centennial on November 11.
In the afternoon we visited the Antinori Vineyard at Atlas Peak, Vaca Mountain Range, Napa. We were served a wonderful lunch and received a tour of their facilities, including the cave in which they mature their wines.
The Search For the Next AFC Fellow Has Started
All the details about the fellowship application requirements can be found on our website:
https://www.americanfriendsofcapodimonte.info/afc-fellowship-about.
For an impression of the experience of being an AFC fellow, watch the clip at right.
James Anno, ’17-’19
Claire Van Cleave, ’20-’21
Caroline Paganussi, ’21-‘23
Emma C. de Jong, ’23-’25
James Anno and Dott. Giovanni Lombardi Present the AFC at the Ifis Art Conference in Venice
“Dott. Giovanni Lombardi’s leadership at Capodimonte as President of the Advisory Board is highly valued. His funding the conservation of Titian’s Portrait of Pier Luigi Farnese marks an important contribution to Capodimonte and Italian culture. We are pleased that Dott. Lombardi invited Dr. James Anno, Program Director of the American Friends of Capodimonte, to give a guest presentation during Dott. Lombardi’s speech at the Ifis Art conference. The American Friends of Capodimonte remain a vital partner of our museum.”
Watch AFC Fellow Emma de Jong Introduce the Firmian Print Collection and Read her Newly Published Article
Click on the image above to go to Emma’s article, published on the Codart.nl website in September.
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for the latest updates from our fellow.
On View at Capodimonte
To celebrate the return of Capodimonte’s masterpieces after a long period of being out on loan, they are now exhibited together in one room. Among them are Parmigianino's Antea, Titian's Danaë and his portraits of Paul III, Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith beheading Holofernes and Caravaggio's Flagellation. The latter had been absent for over two and a half years. Although major renovations to the building are ongoing, the museum will remain open to the public.
The anthological exhibition Giuseppe Pirozzi: The sculptor’s atelier shows circa 80 works representing salient moments of the Neapolitan sculptor’s long career. On the occasion of the exhibition, seven works by the artist will be donated to the Museum and Royal Park of Capodimonte.
Open September 16, 2024 - January 6, 2025 in the Cellaio, a historic building in the Capodimonte bosco.
The AFC’s U.S. Exhibit Recommendation
During the reigns of the Bourbon kings Charles III of Spain (who ruled as Charles VII of Naples from 1734 until 1759) and his son Ferdinand IV (1759 until 1799), the Mediterranean city of Naples established itself as a major European capital and key destination on the Grand Tour, even as Mount Vesuvius continued to smolder, threatening its environs. Throughout the latter half of the eighteenth century, these two monarchs funded archaeological excavations on the Bay of Naples that unearthed ancient treasures and fed into the craze for classical art that infused the Bourbon court. This exhibition is a great opportunity to see works from the Capodimonte Museum and the National Archeology Museum of Naples on view in the U.S.A.
For more information, check out the website of the Meadows Museum in Dallas, TX.
The AFC’s Book Recommendation
“Capodimonte flows in our blood...We carry Masaccio’s Crucifixion inside ourselves.”
Read the New Yorker review here
The AFC Serves One of Europe’s Greatest Museums
The American Friends of Capodimonte (AFC) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to build awareness in the English-speaking world of one of Europe’s greatest museums. Thanks to our Capodimonte Fellowships, we are the first and only American organization to place talented, young American art historians directly inside an Italian museum. Our members and donors enjoy private tours, events, and dinners in the Museum and Royal Park. When works from the Capodimonte collection travel to America, we invite all who contribute to join us for events and exhibitions. For more information on the AFC, check out our website: https://www.americanfriendsofcapodimonte.info/
The Museo di Capodimonte remains open during renovations! For the most up to date opening times, check: https://capodimonte.cultura.gov.it/useful-information/. Full price entry is € 15, free entry for under 18. Free entry on the first Sunday of the month.
The museum can easily be reached by taxi and when departing from the city center by bus lines 3M, 168, 178, 204, C63. Address: Via Miano 2, 80131 Napoli NA.