Caravaggio, a Trip Underground--and Pizza!

Buon Giorno,
I'm skipping apero today and going straight to cena.  Because what's on the menu today is---pizza!  I got the classic Pizza Margherita from Di Matteo, which famously served former President Clinton the very thing I'm having today, and I didn't have to wait long because I went early and I didn't pay much at all.
In Rome, I enjoyed pizza by the slice, and it was lovely.  You can get pizza by the slice in Naples, but it's not considered true pizza here, and frankly those slices don't look very good.  And, of course, there are RULES governing the genuine Neapolitan Pizza.  The dough must be made just so with certain ingredients. Toppings are simpler and sparser than what Americans are used to, and by the way, Italians are utterly horrified by typical American style pizza.  The disc must be put in a hot (preferably wood-fired) oven for a short time.  And then served.
Most places that grow grain have some form a flat bread, and it's easy to put stuff on it.  Unlike pasta, the origins of pizza aren't controversial.  Originally in Naples it was sweet with almond paste and such like.  Then some genius decided to smear some tomato sauce on the dough. Pizza as we know it was born!
Yet no respectable person would go near the nasty stuff.  It was the food of Neapolitan beggars, criminals, and lowlifes of all descriptions . . . until . . .
The queen of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy came to town.  Given how disease and crime ridden the city was in those days, the royals showed a certain amount of courage and dedication showing up in Naples at all.  Her majesty wished to promote good hygiene among her subjects.  She was also curious and asked to try some pizza.  The story goes that the one she liked best had the same colors as the Italian Flag.  Red tomato sauce, white mozzarella, and green basil--but no garlic because queens can't have bad breath or get gas.  It was named after her--Margherita.
Enough with the history!  How does it taste, Pil?
Divine. Chewy crust, fresh tasting toppings.  Pizza Margherita may be Naples's most perfect food.  I'll be going back for more--maybe even tomorrow. But like a tourist I'm drinking red wine with it.  Since it's Falernian, I expect you all to give me a pass.
I needed an easier tourist day today as I have been going pretty hard.  I did get in some good walking though--and I'll need to do more tomorrow to burn off those pizzarific calories.  I shopped for postcards, and didn't find any I liked even though I've resigned myself to the high prices.
My first stop was the Pio Monte della Misericordia, founded by some nobles in the early Seventeenth Century as a sort of food kitchen/homeless shelter.  The chapel is octagonal, and I'll get to it in a bit, but first let's go upstairs to the "picture gallery."  It holds some nice paintings (also quite a few dull ones) plus some period furniture, fabrics, and ecclesiastical accoutrements used in worship services.
But downstairs is where the real action is because the altarpiece is Caravaggio's Seven Acts of Mercy and it is well worth seeing.  Caravaggio spent some time in Naples on the run from a murder rap in Rome.  The poor man seems to have had some kind of personality disorder because he could not stay out of trouble, but he was also sincerely religious, and he was undoubtedly a brilliant painter.
The work is typical of Caravaggio, crowded with figures and with stark contrasts of light and dark and a definite nod toward the street life of ordinary Neapolitans.  Among the acts of mercy depicted are clothing the naked, burying the dead, and feeding the hungry.
Then I walked up to San Lorenzo to take the guided tour of the Greco-Roman city beneath the church. There's a similar though longer and more elaborate tour given elsewhere, but this one was fine with me as I'd just been to Herculaneum.  It's also apparently less scary and claustrophobic inducing (if that matters to anyone) than the other tour.  The guide was clear and informative, and I think if people are new to Roman ruins, they would find it very educational.  I have to say I do not know why people walk around Naples and take these sorts of tours in flimsy shoes.  The old Roman paving stones are rough and uneven.  I can't say much better for the contemporary paving at ground level.
Ciao