Fede Galizia shines again at the Museo di Capodimonte: the 'Adoration

Fede Galizia on display at the Museo di Capodimonte

An altarpiece attributed to Fede Galizia has been installed in Room 79 on the second floor of the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples. The work, the Adoration of the Magi (circa 1610), has been part of the Bourbon collections for over two centuries but had not previously been exhibited in this palace.

The painting’s story is one of rediscovery: over time it was moved, misattributed and thought lost, until recent research confirmed its attribution to the female artist in 2021.

Galizia’s altarpiece shows her engagement with late-16th-century masters, with compositional echoes of Leonardo, Raphael and Correggio, and fits within the production created for Naples and the Kingdom between the late 1500s and the early 1600s.

Why visit

• Historical significance: the first signed altarpiece by Fede Galizia returned to public display.
• Museum context: Room 79 situates the work within a broader panorama of Neapolitan painting, from Mannerism to early Caravaggesque influences.
• Focus on women artists: the exhibition highlights the role of female painters in art history from the 16th to the 18th century.

Practical information

• Location: Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples — Room 79, second floor.
• Access: the museum offers free-entry initiatives (for example, the first Sunday of the month). Check the official website for opening hours and updates before your visit.
• Notes: on certain holidays the Real Bosco may be closed and only parts of the museum (e.g., the second floor) may be open to visitors.

Commissioned originally by the Flemish merchant Baldassare Noirot for the Chapel of the Magi, the painting underwent relocations and de-attribution before being identified through recent scholarship. Its presence at Capodimonte enriches the narrative of female artistic production and Naples’ cultural heritage.