THE INVENTIONS OF RAIMONDO DI SANGRO: new scientific discoveries regarding the stones and colours created by the seventh prince of Sansevero

The study “In Search of the Phoenix in Eighteenth-Century Naples” was presented at the Museo Cappella Sansevero today. For the first time, we have confirmation that Prince Raimondo di Sangro succeeded in artificially reproducing the precious ultramarine pigment naturally obtained from lapis lazuli, which was used in the frame surrounding the high altar in the Chapel.

The research was conducted by a team from Aldo Moro University of Bari, comprising Francesco Paolo de Ceglia, Andrea Maraschi, Alessandro Monno, and Gioacchino Tempesta. It was published in Open Access in the scientific journal “Nuncius: Journal of the Material and Visual History of Science”. The publication is available at the following link: https://brill.com/view/journals/nun/aop/issue.xml.

[ph. Giuseppe Paolisso - Rive Studio]