A short walk from the Accademia di Belle Arti, always located to the side and never directly in front of those who walk Naples’ streets, the Galleria Principe di Napoli stands between Via Broggia and Via Foria. Its history could be an essay on the function and uses of public works in the city.

It was first a Bourbon granary, then a majestic Unification building, grudgingly used – except as a throughway for tourists going to and from the archaeological museum. It then collapsed and was hidden by scaffolding for years. Later, it housed the municipal archives, then deserted offices, and the treasury. A short time ago this hapless monument was renovated, but it still remained deserted for a long time.

Today it is the home to ScottoJonno, an ambitious project by Luca Iannuzzi, who has restored and donated a forgotten place to the city. Having chosen to collaborate with artist and longtime friend Eugenio Tibaldi, it is clear that the research is well defined in terms of experience and food and wine.

“ScottoJonno was born out of years of study and conversations with Luca, born out of a desire to bring different aesthetic and conceptual tensions together in one place, inspired by a shared passion for the complex and changing identity ‘of the body of Naples.’ We wanted to build and develop a space outside of time, poised between the past, present and continuous evolution of the city. It was wonderful to be able to do this inside a late 19th-century monumental gallery. An abandoned place, a blight on the city’s already arrhythmic heart. We decided to leave the scars of its various previous lives exposed, respecting – revolutionizing, giving, and giving to ourselves – a place that would not be the same old chronic reminder of the stereotypical folklore of one of the world’s most complex and fascinating cities.” Eugenio Tibaldi