Triumphal Arch of Alfonso I (detail)

The complexity of the gateway to Castelnuovo is explained by its tripartite function: a triumphal monument, a castle gate and a cenotaph. It consists of two superimposed arches in six registers, between two towers of the castle, combined Roman triumphal and funerary imagery with Christian elements and historical and heraldic devices of Alfonso I (Alfonso V of Spain who moved his court to Naples). No one artist was responsible for all of it: documents records Laurana working with Pietro da Milano, Paolo Romano and at least thirty-three assistants.