The Zevallos Palace – Galleries of Italy
The Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano is a Baroque palace on Via Toledo in the San Ferdinando quarter of central Naples. Originally a private residence built for a wealthy Spanish merchant family in the seventeenth century, it became a celebrated banking institution and, from 2014 to 2022, housed the Intesa Sanpaolo cultural museum — now relocated to the former Banco di Napoli headquarters nearby. The palace is best known to art lovers for its permanent display of Caravaggio’s final masterpiece, the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1610).
At a glance
- Type
- Baroque palace with museum galleries
- Period
- 17th century (construction); museum use from 2014
- Style
- Neapolitan Baroque
- Location
- Via Toledo 185, San Ferdinando, Naples, Italy
- Coordinates
- 40.8398° N, 14.2464° E
Overview
The Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano stands at Via Toledo 185, one of Naples’ most famous thoroughfares. Built in the Baroque style for a prosperous Spanish merchant family, the palace later passed to the Colonna di Stigliano family and ultimately to the banking sector. From 2014 until 2022 it served as a museum of artworks — mainly spanning the seventeenth through early twentieth centuries — under the Cultural Project of Intesa Sanpaolo bank.
History
The palace was commissioned in the seventeenth century by the Zevallos family, wealthy Spanish merchants who had settled in Naples during the period of Spanish viceroyalty. Over subsequent centuries it passed through aristocratic hands, including the Colonna di Stigliano, before being acquired by the banking world. The Intesa Sanpaolo group transformed it into a public cultural venue in 2014, linking it to sister Gallerie di Italia sites in Milan (Piazza Scala) and Vicenza (Palazzo Leoni Montanari). The Naples museum has since moved to the restored former Banco di Napoli headquarters on Via Toledo.
What you see
The palace interior retains richly decorated Baroque rooms with coffered ceilings, frescoed lunettes and period furnishings. The permanent collection highlights seventeenth- to early-twentieth-century Neapolitan and Italian art, with works by Luca Giordano, Francesco Solimena and other masters of the Neapolitan school. Pride of place belongs to Caravaggio’s Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1610), commissioned by Marcantonio Doria and considered the artist’s last documented painting, executed in the final weeks of his life.
Cultural significance
The Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano is a landmark of Neapolitan Baroque civic architecture and a witness to five centuries of the city’s commercial and artistic life. Its Caravaggio, painted just before the artist’s death in 1610, is one of the most emotionally powerful late works in Italian art and a pilgrimage destination for scholars of the period.
Practical information
- Address
- Via Toledo 185, 80132 Napoli NA, Italy
- Opening hours
- Check the official Gallerie d’Italia website for current hours and admission prices
- Admission
- Check official website
- Website
- gallerieditalia.com – Napoli
Getting there
The palace is in central Naples on Via Toledo, one of the city’s main arteries. The nearest Metro stop is Toledo (Line 1), a short walk north along Via Toledo. Several bus lines also serve the street. From Naples Centrale railway station, the journey by metro or bus takes approximately 15 minutes.
Sources & resources
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