Gesù Nuovo
| Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo Chiesa della Trinità Maggiore Chiesa della Madonna Immacolata
|
|
|---|---|
| Patronage : | Jesus Christ |
| Consecration date : | October 7, 1601 |
| Order : | Jesuit |
| Address: | Piazza del Gesù Nuovo, Naples |
Coordinates: 40 ° 50 ′ 51.4 ″ N , 14 ° 15 ′ 6.5 ″ E
Gesù Nuovo (Italian: New Jesus , also: chiesa del Gesù Nuovo or della Trinità Maggiore ) is the name of a Jesuit church in the historic center of Naples , which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . It is located in the Piazza del Gesù Nuovo of the same name , opposite the Guglia dell'Immacolata ( Marian Column ) and the Basilica di Santa Chiara .
It is one of the most important and largest churches in the city and the most influential artists of the Neapolitan school contributed to its interior decoration in typical Neapolitan baroque style.
The church was given the suffix “Nuovo” (New) because the Jesuits in Naples already had a church that was then called Gesú Vecchio (Old Jesus).
St. Giuseppe Moscati is buried inside .
history
Palazzo Sanseverino
The palace of Roberto Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno , originally built in 1470, stood on the site of the Gesù Nuovo church . The date and name of the architect Novello da San Lucano can still be read on an inscription on the facade.
During the 16th century, various important personalities such as Pietro Aretino and the Neapolitan writers Scipione Capece and Antonio Mariconda stayed here . At the time of Ferrante Sanseverino and his wife Isabella Villamarina, the palace was famous for the beauty of its interior frescoed decorations and for its wonderful garden. In 1536, Ferrante gave a splendid feast for Charles V when he returned from Africa ( siege of Tunis ).
When the Spanish viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo introduced the Inquisition in Naples in 1547 , protests broke out among the Neapolitan population, in which Ferrante and the Sanseverino also took part; therefore he had to go into exile in 1652 and the family's property was confiscated . The palace and its gardens were sold for 45,000 ducats to the Jesuits, who had a church built between 1584 and 1601, and next to it the Palazzo delle Congregazioni (1592) and the Casa Professa dei Padri Gesuiti (1608).
church
The architects of the church were the Jesuit fathers Giuseppe Valeriano and Pietro Provedi , who had almost the entire palace of the Sanseverino demolished, except for the unusually wide facade with diamond blocks , which can still be seen today.
The work was financed by Isabella Feltria Della Rovere , Princess of Bisignano (wife of Niccolò Bernardino Sanseverino, the last of the branch of the Sanseverino Princes of Bisignano). Her name, along with that of Roberto I. Sanseverino, appears on a marble plaque with an inscription on the architrave of the main portal. This plaque was put up in 1597 when the church was opened for cult. On October 7, 1601, it was consecrated to the Madonna Immacolata (= Immaculate Conception ), but was soon popularly given the name Gesù Nuovo to distinguish it from the old Jesuit church.
Between 1629 and 1634 a first dome was built under the Jesuit Agatio Stoia according to plans by Valeriano and Provedi, which was painted in 1635–1636 by Giovanni Lanfranco with a much admired fresco of Paradise . In 1639 there was a fire in the church and the restoration work was entrusted to Cosimo Fanzago . In 1652 Aniello Falcone painted the vault frescos of the great sacristy .
An earthquake in 1688 caused the dome to collapse, Lanfranco's frescoes were lost and the interior was badly damaged. As a result, a reconstruction took place between 1693 and 1695 and the church was completed; the new dome was built by Arcangelo Guglielmelli . In 1695 the original marble portal from the Renaissance was enriched with two columns, a broken gable, four angels and the coat of arms of the Jesuits.
In 1717, the entire building complex was reinforced under Ferdinando Fuga , who had additional pilasters and arches installed. Paolo De Matteis painted a fresco Gloria della Vergine in the new dome . In 1725, Gesù Nuovo was basically completed.
After the Jesuits were banished from the Kingdom of Naples in 1767, Reformed Franciscans moved into the convent, who came from the convents of Santa Croce and Trinità di Palazzo and renamed the church Trinità Maggiore (Great Trinity). In 1774 the new dome also collapsed in part and was then completely removed, the church remained closed for 30 years. From 1786 the engineer Ignazio di Nardo had a “false” dome with a flat dome (“ scodella ” = bowl) installed, which was later painted with an illusionistic decoration made from (false) cassettes; the roof was also renewed.
The Jesuits were re-admitted to the Kingdom of Naples in 1804, but banned again during French rule from 1806 to 1814. After the Restoration of the Bourbons , the church came back into the possession of the Society of Jesus in 1821, but they were again banned from 1848 to 1860. On December 8, 1857, the main altar was completed by the Jesuit Ercole Giuseppe Grossi and the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Immacolata Concezione) was consecrated. In 1900 the order of the Jesuits was finally allowed to return.
During the Second World War, the church suffered severe damage due to some air raids. In one of these bombings, a bomb fell on the roof of the nave, but miraculously did not explode. This bomb is exhibited today in the right aisle, in the place dedicated to Saint Giuseppe Moscati.
In 1975 the church was restored under the direction of Paolo Martuscelli; The work was also supervised by the Jesuit Father Antonio Volino, who was responsible, among other things, for the umpteen repairs of the pseudo-dome.
The “riddle” of the facade
The façade of Gesù Nuovo or the former Palazzo San Severino has occupied the minds for centuries, as various symbols are carved across the entire façade on the sides of the diamond blocks, the interpretation of which is a mystery .
The simplest hypothesis is that these are only signs that the stonemasons used to mark stones from different quarries . However, it was and is also believed that there may be an alchemical or hermetic meaning behind the signs , a thesis that may not a. is represented by Stanislao Scognamiglio.
A popular superstition was that the palace or the church was " cursed ": the tips of the " pyramidal " diamond blocks were attached to concentrate positive forces inside and to keep everything negative away; In the process, however, something went wrong or was intentionally done wrong, so that the building and its residents, conversely, caused a lot of misfortune - a thesis that was used in the past to explain the multiple collapsed domes and other accidents in history.
In 2010, the art historian Vincenzo De Pasquale and the Hungarian musicologists Csar Dors and Lòrànt Réz, in collaboration with other scientists ( mathematicians , architects ), published a thesis, which was also widely noticed in the media, that the signs on the facade of Gesù Nuovo are Aramaic letters Alfabetes act (i.e. the language of Jesus ). These could be meaningfully reinterpreted as notes and would consequently result in a piece of music which the authors called an enigma (= puzzle).
Stanislao Scognamiglio uncovered inconsistencies in this theory, and at the same time pointed out that certain signs are part of the alchemical and hermetic tradition. At the same time, he thinks it is entirely possible that the sense could have something to do with music in the sense of spherical harmony - a concept that played an important role in the world of ideas of the Renaissance . He also pointed out that there is a parallel between the former Palazzo Sanseverino in Naples and the Palazzo dei Diamanti (Biagio Rossetti, 1492) in Ferrara , which was built around twenty years later and has a similar facade: Both palaces were home to humanistic academies ( accademie ) held.
Interior
Church plan
|
Central nave and apse
The interior, which was lavishly decorated by Cosimo Fanzago in 1630 with the finest marble inlays (with the main colors pink and white), is based on a Greek cross that is slightly elongated in the longitudinal axis. In the center of the transept is the dome, on the right and left ten side chapels, five on each side, two of them in the apse .
.JPG)
On the entrance wall there is a huge fresco by Francesco Solimena from 1725: “Heliodorus expelled from the temple”. The coffers in the vaulted ceiling were painted by Belisario Corenzio between 1636 and 1638 ; some of them were later repaired by Paolo De Matteis because of the damage caused by the earthquake of 1688. Along the central nave there are scenes on the theme of “the name of Jesus” ( il Nome di Gesù ).
The dome , built by Ignazio di Nardo, is supported by a reinforced concrete structure; it has a spherical dome which is interrupted by lunette-shaped windows. The stucco decorations take up the motif of the cassettes, and frescoes of the four evangelists can be seen in the spandrels of the false dome , which date from the painting by Giovanni Lanfranco around 1630.
The church has two organs located in the apse on the right and left in the central nave. One is dated around 1640 and was made by Vincenzo Miraglia - it is no longer playable - the other by Pompeo de Franco from the 17th century was restored by Gustavo Zanin in 1989 using the baroque case and parts of the original pipe material. The instrument has 61 keys in the manuals and a pedal with 32 keys; it has a mechanical key action for the manuals and an electronically tracker action for registers and combinations thereof.
The grandstand was frescoed by Massimo Stanzione , while Cosimo Fanzago created a polychrome marble architecture with six alabaster columns on the main wall , in the center of which there is a niche with a statue of the Madonna by Antonio Busciolano from 1859. On the sides two reliefs from the school of Domenico Antonio Vaccaro with representations of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and of San Francesco Saverio ; including two sculptures of Saints Peter and Paul , again by Busciolano. The group of angels that carry the globe on which the Virgin stands comes from the 18th century by an anonymous artist. Finally, the high altar is a work of the 19th century and was built by Raffaele Postiglione according to plans by the Jesuit Ercole Giuseppe Grossi.
The side chapels
In the two aisles to the left and right there are five large chapels: the third is located at the end of the respective transept and is even larger than the others (these two chapels are therefore also called Capellone ); the fifth chapel acts as the apse of the side aisle and lies parallel to the main altar.
Left side
The first chapel dei Santi Martiri (the Holy Martyrs) on the left has a marble decoration from the second decade of the 17th century by Costantino Marasi, sculptures of Saints Stefan and Lorenz by Girolamo D'Auria and Tommaso Montani from 1613, an altar painting "Madonna and Child and Holy Martyrs" by Azzolino, and frescoes by Corenzio from the first decade of the 17th century.
The second chapel della Natività ( Nativity Chapel ; also called Cappella Fornari, after the client Ferrante Fornari) also has a fresco decoration by Corenzio, who in 1601 painted the dome and vault with stories of the birth of Jesus, King David and Isaiah . On the altar is the birth of Christ by Girolamo Imparato from 1602. A defining element of the chapel is also eleven sculptures of saints and angels that were placed here in 1601, and by Michelangelo Naccherino , Pietro Bernini , Tommaso Montani, Girolamo D'Auria, Francesco Cassano and Giovanni Maria Valentini. The latter two created the remaining marble decorations and the balustrade together with Mario and Costantino Marasi. In the center of the tympanum a Madonna and Child attributed to Imparato.
The cappellone di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola , is dedicated to the founder of the Jesuits, and lies in the left transverse arm: the architectural decor and the marble incrustations are by Cosimo Fanzago, Costantino Marasi and Andrea Lazzari, the statues of David and Jeremias on the sides of the altar created by Fanzago from 1643 to 1654. The altar painting Madonna and Child between Saints Ignatius of Loyola and Francesco Saverio by Paolo De Matteis (1715) originally comes from the church of Monteoliveto in Taranto (former Jesuit church, currently: Santuario della Madonna della Salute); it replaces the vision of St. Ignatius in La Storta by Girolamo Imparato, which now hangs on the right side wall. At the top center and right of the altar there are two paintings by Jusepe de Ribera : a glory of St. Ignatius and the recognition of the rules of St. Ignatius by Paul III. , both were written 1643–44. A third painting by Ribera was ruined by the bombings of World War II and has been replaced by a Madonna and Child and Saint Anne by an unknown 16th century Campanian master (originally from Sant'Aniello in Caponapoli ).
Is located on the left wall, a Holy Trinity with Saints , which now Agostino Beltrano is attributed, but earlier than the work of Guercino or Battistello Caracciolo was; it used to hang in the Chapel of the Sacred Heart on the right side of the church. In the vault and next to the window there are frescoes by Corenzio about St. Ignatius of Loyola.
A door to the right of the altar leads to the sacristy , with furniture from the 17th century, an altar and washbasin by Dionisio Lazzari and a baroque decoration of gilded stucco on a white background on the walls and in the vault, in the middle of which is a painting Saint Michael , who expels the rebellious angels (1652) by Aniello Falcone .
This is followed by the cappella del Crocifisso e di San Ciro , designed in 1659 by Dionisio Lazzari and frescoed by Giovanni Battista Beinaschi in the last quarter of the 17th century. A remarkable wood-carved group of figures from the second half of the 16th century by Francesco Mollica shows the crucifixion of Jesus with the Virgin Mary and Saint John . On both sides statues of San Ciro (left) and San Giovanni Edesseno (right) from the 18th and 19th centuries. Under the altar is the tomb of San Ciro from the 4th century. The floor is by the brothers Muzio and Giovan Battista Nauclerio.
The last chapel of Saint Francesco De Geronimo (or Cappella Ravaschieri , after the family of the client), in the apse of the left aisle, presents a marble decor by Giuseppe Bastelli, Domenico di Nardo and Donato Gallone, as well as remains of a fresco by Francesco Solimena . In the center a sculpture of Saint Francesco De Geronimo from 1932 by Francesco Jerace. On the side walls there are two large wooden lip sanctuaries by Giovan Domenico Vinaccia from the end of the 17th century with more than 70 reliquary busts. In the middle of the busts there is a statue of St. Ignatius of Loyola (left) and St. Francis Xavier (right).
right side
The first chapel on the right is dedicated to Saint Carlo Borromeo and has marble decorations by Costantino Marasi and Vitale Finelli, and several sculptures by Cosimo Fanzago from 1620: Saints Aspreno and Aniello on the side walls, and the angels in the tympanum. The frescoes in the vault and the altarpiece of St. Carlo Borromeo are by Giovanni Bernardino Azzolino .
The second chapel (also called the visitation chapel) is dedicated to St. Giuseppe Moscati and houses an altar painting of the visitation by Massimo Stanzione . The polychrome marble decoration is again from Fanzago. In the dome you can see remains of frescoes by Luca Giordano, while the angels in the niches are by Andrea Falcone. Chapel of St. Francis Xavier (right transept)
The great chapel of St. Francis Xavier ( Cappellone di San Francesco Saverio ) is in the right transept: the paintings are by Luca Giordano , the marble decor by Giuliano Finelli, Donato Vannelli and Antonio Solaro, the sculptures by Cosimo Fanzago in 1621. The paintings by Luca Giordano with scenes from the life of San Francesco Saverio date from 1690 to 1692, and are on the left, center and right of the altar. On the right wall a Rosary Madonna ( Madonna del Rosario ) by Fabrizio Santafede, in the vaulted ceiling a cycle of frescoes about San Francesco Saverio by Corenzio and De Matteis, and on the altar a San Francesco Saverio in Ecstasy by Azzolino . On the left wall of the chapel is the painting The Virgin Mary as a Child with Saints Anna, Joseph, Joachim, Francesco De Geronimo and Ciro by Ludovico Mazzanti (1720).
To the left of the altar there is also a door to the Oratory of Saint Giuseppe Moscati, where some of the saint's manuscripts, historical photographs, rosaries and the furniture of the saint's former rooms (bedroom and study) are exhibited, which are then reproduced and reproduced in the church were given by the sister of the doctor to the Jesuit parish in Naples.
After the transept, the two chapels of the presbytery of the right aisle open: the chapel of San Francesco Borgia on the back wall and that of the Sacred Heart , which serves as the right apse of the church. The chapel of San Francesco Borgia was destroyed in the earthquake of 1688 and therefore contains only works from the 18th century: frescoes by Angelo Mozzillo and the altarpiece of San Francesco Borgia in prayer in front of the Most Holy by Sebastiano Conca . The marble decor was designed by Giuseppe Astarita.
The Sacred Heart Chapel ( cappella del Sacro Cuore ) was painted by Belisario Corenzio in 1605 with stories of angels in the vault and on the side walls. The marble jewelry of the brothers Mario and Costantino Marasi dates from the same period.
gallery
View of the entrance with Solimena's fresco Expulsion of Heliodorus from the temple
Francesco Solimena: Expulsion of Heliodorus from the temple , fresco on the inner entrance facade
Detail view of the Nativity Chapel
Main altar and left organ
One of the two organs from Gesù Nuovo
.JPG)
.jpg)
literature
- Mario Buonoconto: Napoli esoterica. Un itinerario nei “misteri” napoletani. Rome 1996 (Italian)
- Alfredo Cattabiani: Santi d'Italia. BUR, Milano, 1993, ISBN 88-17-25854-7 (Italian)
- AA.VV .: Napoli e dintorni. Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2007, ISBN 978-88-365-3893-5 (Italian)
- Carlo De Frede: Il principe di Salerno, Roberto di Sanseverino e il suo palazzo in Napoli a punte di diamante. Napoli, 2000 (Italian)
- Loredana Gazzara: Napoli. Mondadori Electa, Milan 2007, pp. 24–25 (Italian)
- Renato Ruotolo: Arte e devozione dalla Controriforma ai tempi moderni. La Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo a Napoli. In: Campania Felix, anno V, n.12. Naples, May 2003 (Italian)
- Stanislao Scognamiglio: Il Mistero del Gesu 'Nuovo. Il segreto celato nel bugnato-Nuove ipotesi , online on the website www.centrostudiscienzeantichena.it , viewed on October 4, 2018
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alfredo Cattabiani: Santi d'Italia , BUR, Milano, 1993, ISBN 88-17-25854-7
- ↑ AA.VV .: Napoli e dintorni , Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2007, p 152
- ↑ a b c d e f Stanislao Scognamiglio: Il Mistero del Gesu 'Nuovo. Il segreto celato nel bugnato-Nuove ipotesi , online on the website www.centrostudiscienzeantichena.it , viewed on October 4, 2018
- ↑ Pietro Treccagnoli: Chiesa del Gesù nuovo, svelato il mistero della facciata , in: Il Mattino , December 28, 2010, online1 , last viewed on October 4, 2018
- ↑ L'enigma diventa un concerto , in Il Mattino , October 6, 2011, online2
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j AA.VV .: Napoli e dintorni , Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2007, p. 154
- ↑ a b c d e f AA.VV .: Napoli e dintorni , Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2007, p. 155
- ↑ According to tradition, this saint was a companion of the martyrdom of San Ciro, see Saint Vita of San Ciro , last seen on September 9, 2018 (Italian)
Web links
- Disposition of the Gesù nuovo organs on Wikibooks (as of October 4th 2018)
- Pietro Treccagnoli: Chiesa del Gesù nuovo, svelato il mistero della facciata , in: Il Mattino , December 28, 2010, online , last viewed on October 4, 2018.