page_title: Villa Carafa of Belvedere
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Villa Carafa of Belvedere / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Villa Carafa di Belvedere
context_page_description: The Villa Carafa of Belvedere, formerly known as Palazzo Vandeneynden,
  and also known as Villa Belvedere,
  is a monumental villa in Naples, located in the hilly Vomero district. The villa was commissioned by the powerful magnate, nobleman and art collector Ferdinando Vandeneynden, also known as Ferdinand van den Eynde, from the Carthusian architect Bonaventura Presti.
context_section_description: The villa was built at the end of 17th century as an "out of town" palace by the wealthy Flemish merchant and banker (who was awarded the title of Marquis of Castelnuovo and married the noblewoman Olimpia Piccolomini, nephew of Cardinal Celio) Ferdinando Vandeneynden, or Ferdinand van den Eynde, son of the wealthy merchant Jan van den Eynde, on the western slope of the Vomero hill, in what is now via Belvedere.
  The Netherlandish nobleman, whose father had chosen Naples as his residence and the place wherein establishing his own business (like many other powerful Northern European traders), had previously commissioned from a Carthusian monk the renovation of numerous patrician residences in the city (among which the Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, which had been acquired by his father Jan); however, Villa Belvedere, which Van den Eynde ordered him to realize from scratch, is perhaps the only work entirely done by this architect-friar, whose name was Bonaventura Presti.
  The Vandeneynden palace was built between 1671 and 1673 according to the design of Presti. Located at the end of a long tree-lined avenue, with its entrance on the via del Vomero (via Belvedere), the building develops on two levels with a polygonal system with a courtyard closed on three sides, opening into a loggia to the west, in the direction of the hill of Posillipo. The whole project was based essentially on perspective, and it was strongly influenced by the surrounding landscape, with the Gulf of Naples to the south, and Posillipo to the west.
  The Vandeneynden palace became Villa Carafa di Belvedere in 1688, when Elizabeth, daughter of the Marquis Vandeneynden, who died of consumption in 1674, married Charles Carafa IV, Prince of Belvedere.
  The Carafas improved the villa by adding loggias overlooking the panorama of the gulf. Along the tree-lined avenue, which, as mentioned, constituted the access to the villa, sheds and stables were arranged, as well as an elegant eighteenth-century well in marble.
  The tuff necessary to carry out these alterations was taken from a part of the hill beyond the large terrace, wherein a cave was dug. The hole was later used as a cellar for the conservation of wine and meat. The cave was accessed via a well-shaped staircase which is still extant. 
  Villa Belvedere was very popular among the Neapolitan upper classes and the local nobles, including the Bourbons; during the summer vacations of queen Maria Carolina of Habsburg-Lorraine, wife of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, magnificent parties were held, which attracted huge crowds. In fact, in the months of May and October, the villa was open to the public; so that on Thursdays and Sundays it was possible to attend musical concerts, and, later, even popular jousting and tournaments. The popularity of the villa did not decrease under French rule: the building was one of the favorite resorts of Gioacchino Murat. Inside the villa there was a precious collection of paintings and sculptures, which was assembled by Ferdinand, who in turn had inherited the prestigious collection of his father, while the vaults are still embellished with frescoes by artists such as Luca Giordano.
  Ferdinand van den Eynde's precious art collection (which included several paintings by Luca Giordano) was later inherited by the Carafas and the Colonnas, as his two daughters, Elizabeth and Giovanna (Joanna), married the heirs of the Carafa and Colonna families, respectively. Between the first and second half of the seventeenth century, through his commerce between Flanders and Naples (which included also artworks) Van den Eynde, an avid art collector and art dealer, favored the circulation in Naples of new tastes and stylistic currents. In his collection, therefore, there were also several works by notable foreign artists.
  As regards Giordano's paintings in Van de Eynde's collection, included in the dowries of his two daughters, in the The Lives of the Artists it is reported:
  [A]mong these works (by Luca Giordano), noted as in a catalog, I learned that those that belonged to D. Ferdinando Vandeneinden, were
caption: Courtyard of Villa Belvedere
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