Santa Brigida is a church located on Via Santa Brigida in central Naples, Italy. The church is a few doors down from one of the entrances to the Galleria Umberto I.
The origins of the church date to 1609, when a local merchant Giovanni Antonio Bianco dedicated a chapel to Santa Brigida. He also built a conservatory for widows. But the work was blocked by the curia of Naples, and the structure, with the archbishop's consent, was sold to Giovanna Guevarra, and the church was able to open by 1610 under the Lucchesi fathers, which during 1637-1640 expanded the church and the convent, which now is part of Palazzo Barbaja. Because of its location near the Castel Nuovo, the Spanish authorities demanded that the church only have a low dome (9 metres), which would not have blocked the view from gunners in the Castle. The Lucchese fathers remained until their order was suppressed under the French occupation; they were reinstated during the Bourbon restoration. Ultimately they were again expelled after unification of Italy under the House of Savoy in 1862.
InteriorStatua della Madonna Addolorata
The interior, in Latin cross with chapels, displays gran Baroque pictorial cycles: Glory of Santa Brigida, St Nicola, The Last Judgment and The Passion, by Luca Giordano. The painter himself is buried in the church. Some of the Giordano paintings were completed by his pupil, Giuseppe Simonelli. Other painters active in the church include Massimo Stanzione and Paolo De Matteis.
The dome has an artificial vanishing point painted by Giordano, which makes it look more slender. The chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows has a much revered statue. The Church is the historic seat of the Military Order of the Most Holy Saviour and St. Bridget of Sweden
Bibliography
Renato Ruotolo, Santa Brigida, 1999.
Gennaro Aspreno Galante, Le Chiese di Napoli. Guida Sacra della Città di Napoli, Napoli, XIX secolo.
Dario Nicolella, Le cupole di Napoli, Napoli, 1997
Francesco Ferraironi, Il Santuario di s. Brigida in Napoli: storia, arte, culto, Roma, 1931
Luca Giordano was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain.
Belisario Corenzio was a Greek-Italian painter, active in Venice and Naples. He is one of few Greek painters that did not belong to the Cretan Renaissance like his contemporaries of the time. He escaped the maniera greca completely. He adopted the Venetian style. Other similar Greek painters were Marco Basaiti, Ioannis Permeniates, Antonio Vassilacchi and El Greco. He was sometimes referred to as Il Greco. His teacher was prominent Venetian painter Tintoretto. In 1590, at age 32 Corenzio settled in Naples. Corenzio was influenced by Cavalier d'Arpino. He continued to flourish in the region. His apprentices included: Luigi Rodriguez, Andrea di Leone, Onofrio De Lione and Massimo Stanzione. Corenzio painted many frescos that survived today. Some of his works are in the Church of San Severino and Certosa di San Martino. His style resembles Caravaggio. An Italian legend in Naples exists involving Corenzio, Spanish painter Jusepe de Ribera, and Battistello Caracciolo. They were referred to as the Cabal of Naples. The three painters were rumored to have poisoned their competition for painting contracts. The rumors lack documented evidence. The three painters were very popular in Naples. Corenzio frescoed the Crypt that holds the remains of Matthew the Apostle at Salerno Cathedral and it depicts scenes from the Gospel of Matthew. Corenzio was one of the most celebrated fresco painters in Naples during his time. His drawings can be found all over the world namely at the Metropolitan Museum, Museo di Capodimonte and Louvre. More recently, his life and work was studied by the Greek art historian Panayotis K. Ioannou in a comprehensive monograph.
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