The order, founded in 1601 as a charitable foundation to free
slaves captured by the Turks, still exists. The Governors, true
Neapolitan grandees, meet upstairs every Friday morning. The
pride of a remarkable picture collection is Caravaggio's powerful
'Seven Acts of Mercy, painted after the artist fled Rome for
manslaughter in 1606. It exerted an enormous influence on Neapolitan
painting (see Capodimonte Museum).
