Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco
| Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco, Chiesa delle Anime del Purgatorio
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| Patronage : | Maria |
| Consecration year : | 1638 |
Coordinates: 40 ° 30 ′ 36.7 ″ N , 14 ° 9 ′ 7.4 ″ E
Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco (Italian: "Holy Mary of the Souls in the Purgatorium near Arco") is a religious building complex with a church , hypogeum and museum ( Museo dell'Opera Pia Purgatorio ad Arco ) in the historic city center of Naples , which is part of the Belongs to the world cultural heritage of Unesco . The church is an important work of the Neapolitan Baroque and is known in the population as "chiesa de '' e cape 'e morte" ("Church of the Skulls"); it is located on Via dei Tribunali and has been looked after by the Associazione Progetto Museo since 2010 (Museum and Ipogeo since 2001).
history
The Brotherhood Opera Pia del Purgatorio ad Arco was founded in 1605 by various people from the Neapolitan nobility with the aim of merciful works and the focus on funerals for poor and destitute people. The brothers Geronimo and Francesco Mastrillo were among those primarily responsible. In 1616 the association decided to build a church and gave the order to the architect Giovan Cola di Franco ; later Giovan Giacomo Di Conforto took over the construction management.
There are various theses as to where the nickname " ad Arco " (at Arco) comes from. One says that it comes from the so-called Torre d'Arco (Tower of Arco), which originally stood at the intersection of via Nilo and via Atri in the decumano maggiore . It was a tower from antiquity or the Middle Ages , open on all four sides, and where the so-called Seggio d'Arco was located, a subdivision of one of the Sedili of Naples, namely that of the municipality of Nilo. The district around the tower was called regio de arcu cabredato . The Torre d'Arco was demolished in the 16th century. Giulio Cesare Capaccio expressed another thesis , who said that the addition “ ad Arco ” would refer to the seat of the so-called “ arconti ”, officials of the ancient Greek polis .
The church was consecrated in 1638. From the outset, two levels were planned: an upper church and underneath an Ipogeo ( hypogeum ) with an underground cemetery area, which symbolically embodies the purgatory .
The concern for the souls in the purgatory was one of the main points of the new church and all the decoration was intended to remind passers-by and the faithful that "the souls were waiting for prayers and intercessions in order to free themselves from the fire of the purgatory and ascend to paradise " ( " Che le anime attendevano una preghiera in suffragio per potersi liberare dal fuoco del Purgatorio e ascendere al Paradiso ").
In the church and lower church, a true cult of the so-called " anime pezzentelle " (from Latin : petere = to ask, to turn to someone), anonymous or abandoned " poor souls ", for whom prayers and intercessions for the relief of punishments were made, arose very soon Heaven sent. In the Neapolitan popular piety it became customary to choose one of the nameless skulls in the Ipogeo to represent one of the souls in the purgatory, and to take care of it. People who had " adopted " one of the poor souls asked them for mediation, mercy and support. Small altars were erected, skulls were laid on pillows, candles were set up, flowers, small presents or gifts were offered, messages or letters were deposited. One of the most popular skulls was that of Lucia with a bridal veil and wreath - it was about a young noblewoman who died suddenly after the wedding. She received a small altar in the hypogeum as “protector of the brides and mediator of prayers and intercessions”.
The cult of the poor souls and the skulls in the church delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco survived and survived wars and famines and was still so flourishing in the 20th century that Cardinal Ursi banned it in 1969 because it was “too widespread to the remnants of the anonymous dead, instead of the “saints” of the Church. Nevertheless, the cult has not yet died out.
After the earthquake in Irpinia in 1980 , the two churches had to be closed; they were reopened in 1992 after several years of restoration and stabilization.
Upper Church
The facade of the church with its pilasters made of dark gray piperno is richly decorated with baroque stucco , which clearly reveals the purpose of the church as a burial place, for example crossed bones are depicted directly on the portal on the left and right, and winged and crowned skulls between the Corinthian capitals. The same applies to the brick-red stucco frieze under the cornice. Above the portal between an angel figures appear in a round medallion Bas-relief with a lovely view of the Madonna with the souls of Purgatory , it is Cosimo Fanzago attributed.
The decoration of the interior and the sacristy , the liturgical equipment, the entire pictorial program is reminiscent of the theme of purgatory and death. The church interior has a single nave with 4 side chapels on the right and left.
The choir and apse are the work of Dionisio Lazzari , with polychrome marble and stucco decoration in the main colors old rose, gray and black; the side walls of the choir are clad with golden-yellow vaulted marble.
The altar painting on the main altar is a masterpiece by Massimo Stanzione : the Madonna of the Souls in Purgatory (1638–1642), next to it on both sides of the marble frame winged skulls by Dionisio Lazzari . The whole is crowned by Giacomo Farelli's painting St. Anne hands over the child-like Virgin Mary to the Eternal God the Father (1670).
On the left side wall of the apse is the tomb of Giulio Mastrillo, one of the main patrons of the church, depicted as kneeling before the Madonna of Stanzione. It was designed by Andrea Vaccaro and executed by Andrea Falcone (1672).
The paintings in the side chapels stand out: The Archangel Michael Slays the Demons (1650) by Girolamo De Magistro , in the first chapel on the left, and “ The Death of St. Joseph ” (1650–1651) by Andrea Vaccaro , in the third chapel on the left . The altarpiece in the third chapel on the right " Death or Ecstasy of Sant'Alessio " is a work by Luca Giordano (1661) .
Ipogeo
Through an opening in the floor of the upper church, you descend steep stairs to the lower church , which is one of the most famous places in Naples (“ uno dei luoghi più celebri della città ”). It has similar dimensions to the upper church, but was deliberately kept simple in contrast to its rich furnishings. In the middle of the 18th century it was decorated with maiolica , on which skulls and bones as well as floral motifs are depicted, and which was made by Giuseppe Barberio. In the center there is an anonymous grave surrounded by chains. A corridor "decorated" with skulls leads to an ossuary and also to the small altar with the popularly venerated head of Lucia. A place with consecrated earth ( Terra Santa ) was reserved for the members of the Congregation del Purgatorio ad Arco.
museum
In addition to the hypogeum, the Museo dell'Opera also includes the sacristy and the oratorio dell'Immacolata , paintings from the 17th to 19th centuries and other items such as chasuble, liturgical objects made of silver and manuscripts are on display. The collection includes a very good copy from the 17th century of the famous Madonna della Purità by Luis de Morales , the original of which is in the Theatine Convent of San Paolo Maggiore .
See also
Individual notes
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Website of the Complesso museale Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco online , last viewed on October 25, 2018
- ↑ a b c d e f Loredana Gazzara: Napoli. Mondadori Electa, Milan 2007, p. 76
- ^ Bartolommeo Capasso: La torre di Arco e la casa del Pontano in Napoli , in: Strenna Giannini , anno IV, Naples, 1892
- ^ Riccardo Filangieri di Candida Gonzaga: Il tempietto di Gioviano Pontano , in: Atti dell'Accademia Pontaniana , LVI, Series II, XXXI, 1926
- ^ Giulio Cesare Capaccio: Historia neapolitana , libro I, Naples, 1607
- ↑ Napoli e d'intorni , Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2007, p 196
- ↑ a b c d e Napoli e d'intorni , Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2007, p. 197
- ↑ Eduardo Nappi: "La chiesa delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco a Napoli nei secoli XVII e XVIII", in: "Ricerche sul '600 napoletano", 1996-1997, pp. 155-176
literature
- Loredana Gazzara: Napoli. Mondadori Electa, Milan 2007, pp. 76–77 (Italian)
- Vincenzo Regina: Le chiese di Napoli. Viaggio indimenticabile attraverso la storia artistica, architettonica, letteraria, civile e spirituale della Napoli sacra. Newton e Compton editore, Napoli 2004 (Italian)
- AA.VV .: Napoli e dintorni. Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2007, ISBN 978-88-365-3893-5 (Italian)
