Corpus Delicti

Castel Capuano in Naples until recently housed the Hall of Justice, which has now moved to the new Civic Center. Inside this 12th century building there was the storage for bodies of the crime confiscated in town, from the Seventies to year 2000. Almost 30.000 objects of all kind, distributed in a dozen of rooms, are now to be put in order and selected since a renovation of the castle is planned. 

Each object has a label with year, number and a brief description of the crime related, like this wooden tiger found with 8 kilos of drug inside. There are lots of really good fakes: fashion clothes, guns, paintings, radio, vehicle plates, keys… A whole box filled with electricity meters counterfeit, a peculiar neapolitan crime.

From a Mussolini’s bronze head to a plastic basin, each object has its own story to tell. Eventually, a museum of crime will hosts the most interesting item in the same rooms, that has been jails in origin.

Few days ago I participated to a guided tour lead by some architects in charge for the renovation of the Castle. We met the judge assigned to this difficult task to select objects to be preserved, destroyed or sold for charity. In four people, they met once a week for one year and they have only inspected one room: it seems an infinite job! I got lost with them between all this parcels and their stories, dramatical, weird and sometimes funny too.

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