Capodimonte in Naples

Herewith, in chronological order, my ten personal favorite works from the Museum of Capodimonte in Naples:

Colantonio del Fiore, St. Jerome in his Study (1446). Best of the Naples artists featured upstairs; fun detail and warm, cuddly lion.

Botticelli, Virgin Mary with Child and Angels (1469). I can’t get enough of the early delicious Botticelli, even a week after more magnificent tondos in the Uffizi.

Parmagianino, Galeazzo Sanvitale (1524). An outrageously bold portrait befitting the boldly bearded and hatted subject.

Titian, Pope Paul III with his Grandsons (1545). Unfinished, but still as psychologically fascinating as an official portrait could be.

Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-portrait of the Artist Playing a Spinet (1559). A sensitive, feminine work by a name I’ve often heard but rarely seen.

Pieter Breugel the Elder, The Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind (1568). A unique work by one of the most original masters of all time.

El Greco, El Soplon (Boy blowing on an ember to light a candle) (1572). Simple, small and perfect – the painting I would “most like to steal to hang in my house.”

Caravaggio, Flagellation (1609). The star of the museum, and they know it. The fair and placid Christ glows between swarthy, less cultured ruffians.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and Olophernes (1613). Despite beautiful red, white and blue colors, even more grisly than the Uffizi version.

Francisco Goya, Maria Luisa of Parma (1790). A splendidly gorgeous gold-and-white dress and a face to sink battleships.