It was supposed to be a hunting lodge, but then King Charles VII of Naples and Sicily changed his mind and decided to make it a palace, a place to house the art collection he’d inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese. It was built in the mid–1700s and stood stoically through war and time. It was also enlarged, looted, redecorated, and expanded. In 1950 is became a national museum. The Museo di Capodimonte is home to masterpieces: Masaccio’s Crucifixion, Giovanni Bellini’s monumental Transfiguration of Christ, and three of Parmigianino’s finest paintings. This exhibition brings many of the museum’s splendors to Paris. —Elena Clavarino