606 faces look out over the square in front of Naples’ Cathedral, forming a kind of heterogeneous human fresco that covers its neo-Gothic façade. Pizza makers, priests, students, musicians, tourists, and everyday citizens are the protagonists of an identity-driven exploration of the city that French artist JR undertook in September 2024 through seven photo sets, culminating in his site-specific installation Chi sei, Napoli?—the eighth chapter in his  “Chronicles” series.

The project, promoted by Gallerie d’Italia—the Intesa Sanpaolo museum on Via Toledo—aims to transform the face of the city into a mosaic of individual stories and shared identities, using one of Southern Italy’s most symbolic religious landmarks as its canvas. The artist, renowned for his large-scale photographic installations that blend activism and visual poetry, chose Naples for its contradictory energy and multifaceted soul. Through photographic collage, JR sought to construct an emotional urbanism that resonates with the city’s human reality.

Chi sei, Napoli?  is both a question and a provocation that JR poses to Naples and its inhabitants. It becomes a broader opportunity to reflect on what it means to portray a city today, at a time when ways of living are multiplying and collective memories continue to accumulate. The installation is accompanied by a multimedia exhibition at the Gallerie d’Italia, which features previous works from the Chronicles series—Chroniques de Clichy-Montfermeil (France), Las Crónicas de Cuba (Cuba), and The Gun Chronicles (USA)—as well as documentary materials from the Naples project, offering an unidealized and collective image of the city. On the website jrchronicles.com, visitors can also access audio recordings in which the portrayed individuals recount their stories.

However, just days after its official unveiling, the installation has already stirred skepticism. The use of the Cathedral’s façade has provoked mixed reactions and even public protests. While both the Municipality and Gallerie d’Italia have emphasized the participatory and social value of the project, some critics—among citizens and representatives of the ecclesiastical world—have spoken of a “violated sacredness”, a commodification of shared spaces, and a project that promotes a stereotypical image of the Neapolitan capital. Nevertheless, in a city where the tension between icon and social body is so fluid, layered, and visceral, the debate over the meaning and value of public art projects like this remains not only open but necessary.