Entrance to the Palace
The Palace and the Revolution
Palazzo Serra di Cassano is one of the symbolic settings of the Neapolitan Revolution of 1799. Originally, the Palace could not be accessed from Via Monte di Dio as it is the case today. The main entrance was on Via Egiziaca: the grand doorway was shut on August 20, 1799, by Duke Luigi Serra di Cassano, after witnessing his son Gennaro walk through it for the last time on his way to execution, and remains closed to this day. At just 26 years old, Gennaro was beheaded, a victim—alongside many other patriots—of the violent repression ordered by King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon and his wife Maria Carolina of Austria. Having regained power with the help of the Sanfedists, led by Cardinal Ruffo, the king and queen ordered the execution and exile of those who had actively supported the Republic which had governed Naples from January to June 1799. Although short-lived, the experience of the Neapolitan Republic had a profound influence on early 19th-century revolutionary movements and the Italian unification process.
The Palace and the Revolution
Palazzo Serra di Cassano is one of the symbolic settings of the Neapolitan Revolution of 1799. Originally, the Palace could not be accessed from Via Monte di Dio as it is the case today. The main entrance was on Via Egiziaca: the grand doorway was shut on August 20, 1799, by Duke Luigi Serra di Cassano, after witnessing his son Gennaro walk through it for the last time on his way to execution, and remains closed to this day. At just 26 years old, Gennaro was beheaded, a victim—alongside many other patriots—of the violent repression ordered by King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon and his wife Maria Carolina of Austria. Having regained power with the help of the Sanfedists, led by Cardinal Ruffo, the king and queen ordered the execution and exile of those who had actively supported the Republic which had governed Naples from January to June 1799. Although short-lived, the experience of the Neapolitan Republic had a profound influence on early 19th-century revolutionary movements and the Italian unification process.
A "Passive Revolution"
The Neapolitan Revolution brought together reformists who had been working for decades to transform the monarchy and more radical factions pushing for a Republic. Among its supporters were some of the most brilliant minds of the Kingdom of Naples: students of Antonio Genovesi, Ferdinando Galiani, and Gaetano Filangieri, young intellectuals inspired by Enlightenment ideals, as well as jurists, physicians, and writers. Many paid with their lives for their political engagement, while others were forced into exile. Among them was Vincenzo Cuoco, author of the influential Historical Essay on the Neapolitan Revolution, which was published in Milan, where Cuoco had found refuge. The Essay fueled the myth of the Jacobin martyrs, who had died in the name of freedom. However, Cuoco did not hesitate to attribute the failure of the revolution to its overreliance on the French model, calling it a "passive" revolution. His analysis—highlighting the distance between the educated elite and the general population—later provided Antonio Gramsci with a key interpretative framework for understanding the Southern Question.
Luigi Serra’s Library
After the Bourbon repression, the Restoration further struck Duke Luigi Serra, who had held various public positions under Napoleon’s rule. By 1815, the family’s economic decline had forced him to sell the vast library he had carefully built over decades. The ex libris he commissioned in 1778 shows that the collection was then already extensive. The ex libris bore the family coat of arms—a design also found on the vestibule ceiling, accompanied by the motto Venturi non immemor aevi ("Not forgetting the future"). Serra had enriched his library through an extensive network of connections with book collectors and librarians, both in Italy and abroad. Correspondence with Angelo Maria Bandini, director of the Laurentian Library, and with the renowned bibliophile Angelo Maria D’Elci, highlights Serra’s broad intellectual interests and his dedication to collecting books printed in Naples and rare editions of classical works. His collection of incunabula was particularly notable, with a catalog personally prefaced by Luigi Serra and published in 1807. Today, much of this precious library is preserved at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. It was acquired by Count George Spencer, who purchased it during a visit to Naples between 1819 and 1820 for the modest sum of 30,000 ducats.
The "Mothers of the Nation"
On June 17, 1770, Duke Luigi Serra married Giulia Carafa Cantelmo Stuart, daughter of the Prince of Roccella. That same day, the two families further strengthened their bond through the marriage of Luigi’s younger sister, Maddalena Serra, to Gherardo Carafa, Giulia’s brother. For the occasion, poet Luigi Serio—a future martyr of the Neapolitan Republic—compiled a wedding booklet featuring sonnets and celebratory poems, including contributions from some of the era’s most notable literary figures. One of these was Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel, who would later play a key role in the Revolution, becoming the editor of the Monitore Napoletano, the Republic’s official newspaper. Through its pages, Pimentel praised Giulia Carafa and her sister Maria Antonia, calling them "Mothers of the Nation" for their fundraising efforts in support of the National Treasury. Another woman to receive this title was Luisa Sanfelice, who helped foil a counter-revolutionary conspiracy orchestrated by the Baccher family, a group of royalist bankers intent on overthrowing the Republic. A portrait of Luisa Sanfelice remains on display in one of the Palace’s halls.
The Silence of the Archive: The Serra Brothers
Beyond the Hall of Mirrors lies the Serra di Cassano Historical Archive: a treasure trove of documents detailing the family’s history, their properties, and the construction of the Palace. However, very little remains of Duke Luigi’s intellectual pursuits, his correspondence, or the education of his sons, Giuseppe and Gennaro—the two most involved in the Revolution of 1799. This absence may itself reflect the severe Bourbon repression that followed the fall of the Republic. The Serra brothers had been immersed in Enlightenment ideals since their studies in France, where they attended Sorèze College, a center of Masonic activity. Upon their return to Naples, they joined the Freemasons and became involved in revolutionary circles. Giuseppe was implicated in the Jacobin Conspiracy of 1794 and imprisoned in Castel Sant’Elmo the following year. Although he later supported the Revolution, he managed to escape execution, unlike his brother Gennaro, by securing a diplomatic post in Genoa for the Ligurian Republic.
Scipio: A (Neo)Classical Hero
The date of the frescoes in this room, painted by Giacinto Diano in 1770, coincide with Luigi Serra’s marriage to Giulia Carafa. Their subject matter reflects the duke’s passion for antiquity, particularly the figure of Scipio Africanus, celebrated for his heroism in the Second Punic War. The inscription "Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem habebis" ("Ungrateful homeland, you shall not even have my bones") appears above one of the doorways, recalling Scipio’s famous epitaph, recorded by Valerius Maximus. Scipio’s legend had enjoyed great popularity in 18th-century France and Italy, and his tragic counterpart, Sophoniba, had become a literary and operatic icon, with works dedicated to her by Gian Giorgio Trissino, Scipione Maffei, and Vittorio Alfieri.
"Ungrateful Homeland": The Bourbon Repression
The Idea of the Republic: The Revolution’s Legacy
Bourbon repression annihilated an entire class of enlightened leaders, cutting Naples off from post-revolutionary Europe and its humanist and Enlightenment traditions. Despite its defeat, however, the ideals of the Neapolitan Revolution lived on, shaping 19th-century liberal movements and the Risorgimento.
Italiano