Naples Metro Line 6 has recently inaugurated three new stations. Among these, the Chiaia station has joined the “Art Stations” circuit, reminiscent of the famous Toledo station, which has been named “the most beautiful metro station in Europe.” This time, the project is signed by architect Uberto Siola, who also designed the Mostra, Augusto, and Lala stations. However, what stands out is the presence of the name Peter Greenaway, an internationally renowned artist and filmmaker. The metro station, developed over three floors and featuring a helical staircase reminiscent of the one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Guggenheim Museum in New York, is even more magical thanks to Greenaway’s intervention.
@_giovazz_ Nuova Metro Chiaia Napoli 😍Ⓜ️ #napoli #chiaia #metro #newopening #napolinelcuore #napolitiktok #italy #trainstation ♬ A Summer Place – Hollywood Strings Orchestra
The British filmmaker’s intuition was to conceive of the structure as “a mythological journey into the bowels of the Earth.” The first sculptural installation one encounters, even before entering the station’s interior, is the deity Jupiter, here stylized by a twenty-four-armed Vitruvian silhouette. The sea at his feet, as well as the symbolism that refers to the passage of time, make him appear as a protector of travelers. But let’s find out more about the interventions inside and what other deities are encountered before reaching the quay.
The eye (and visions) of Peter Greenaway
Characteristic of Peter Greenaaway is his ability to think and imagine completely artistic framing. When one watches one of his films-think of “The Belly of the Architect,” “The Venus Zoo,” or even “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover”-it is clear that each photograph retains a very artistic look, made up of light and shadow, as if one were inside a Caravaggio painting. It is no coincidence that he was the author of the beautiful intervention on Da Vinci’s Last Supper, a show of light and shadow, sound and words that brought to life the work preserved in the Refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. Similar operation to that done months earlier on Rembrandt’s The Night Watch at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. All this to approach more consciously this new intervention, this time permanent, in the Chiaia subway station in Naples.
A journey through mythological realms
Accustomed, then, to dialogue with other authors, distant in time but also equally close, here the conversation with Siola’s architectural design turns out well. On the one hand the architect who imagines a descent into the depths of the Earth, on the other Greenaway who accepts the input by transforming it into a journey between different mythological realms. First Jupiter, then Neptune paid homage with Ovid’s verse Est in aqua dulci non invidiosa voluptas written in blue italics all along the staircase. An idyllic vision enhanced by the glass dome placed in the center. Next is Ceres who is the protagonist, maternal deity of the earth and fertility to whom a square green room is dedicated, rigorous but enlivened by flower-like motifs. Then Prosepina, daughter of Ceres, and finally Hades, god of the Underworld, watches travelers with his 320 eyes, drawn all over the dome above the platform.
