Short answers, pulled from the story.
King Charles VII of Naples and Sicily initiated the construction of the building in 1738. He originally planned a hunting lodge before expanding the project into a grand Bourbon palazzo designed by architect Giovanni Antonio Medrano.
The institution officially opened its doors to the public on the 2nd of May 1957. This event occurred after World War II transformed the space from a royal residence into a national museum in 1950.
Much of the ground floor displays part of the magnificent Farnese collection of classical sculpture. Most monumental Roman sculptures survive here or at the Naples National Archaeological Museum largely intact.
Major works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, El Greco, Giovanni Bellini, Simone Martini, Masaccio, Lorenzo Lotto, Giorgio Vasari, and Jacob Philipp Hackert fill these halls. Large holdings also feature Jusepe de Ribera, Luca Giordano, and the Neapolitan Caravaggisti.
Art dealer Lia Rumma donated more than 70 works made by 30 prominent Italian artists in 2022. The list includes Vincenzo Agnetti, Giovanni Anselmo, Enrico Castellani, Luciano Fabro, and Michelangelo Pistoletto.