Neapolitan Religious Sculpture

Neapolitan religious sculpture begins at home.

In the hall leading to our rented apartment in Naples Bill and I found a Pieta and a Madonna on duty.

I will say that our electronics functioned flawlessly.

The domestic religious impulse also puts statues, like this exuberant Mary, Queen of Heaven, on the street.

In the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie on via Toledo we found two images of Mary in vitrines. Here is the ever popular Mary as the Madonna with child.

Nearby we find the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Each of the swords represents a painful scene in the life of her Son. The theatricality of her suffering feels Spanish to me.

We found another suffering figure in a vitrine in SS Filippo e Giacomo. We could classify this statue as Christ Mocked.

Spanish religious artists always emphasize the suffering of the figures. Spain ruled Naples throughout the 17th century.

Also behind glass, in San Nicola alla Carita', an enormous reliquary, resting place for two saints, both with skulls and bones on display to inspire pious reflection.

We found this window full of votive offerings in the church of Gesù Nuovo: each acknowledges an answered prayer. 

Bill and I found reliquaries in the Cloister Museum of Santa Chiara: Santa Thegla (above)  and Santa Fortunata (below).

Their eyes and hands invite us to venerate the relics that were once held in their hearts.

Bill and I love the use of a starburst behind a saint. Here's a nice one in the ambulatory of San Lorenzo Maggiore

Bill noticed that the starburst is not attached to the saint but is separate and has its own stand

This clunky freestanding starburst is in San Domenico Maggiore. And here is San Domenico below.

He has a dog at his feet. I looked him up in The Golden Legend, the 13th C. standard reference on the lives of the saints. Bill persuaded me to quote in full:

"Before he was born, his mother dreamed that she carried in her womb a little dog which held a lighted torch in his mouth, and when the dog came forth from her womb, he set fire to the whole fabric of the world." Welcome to Naples.

Neapolitan Courtyards

The historic centre of Naples is densely populated.

and has been for 3,000 years. The locals adapted by designing their apartment blocks with central courtyards.

In the grandest buildings the courtyards are gated like this one on Via Foria near the Botanical Gardens.

But most are open like this one off the Spaccanapoli.

This courtyard of shops is off the street of Christmas creches (via San Gregorio Armeno).

Here is a private courtyard glimpsed from the same street.

This elegant courtyard is in the San Lorenzo Quarter.

John and I returned to this neighbourhood often. San Lorenzo felt like a personal discovery.

The streets are narrow,

but regularly open onto light-filled courtyards.

Laundry and parked motorbikes are standard features. Notice the exit onto a parallel street in the distance.

Some courtyards are more colourful than others.

But every courtyard is unique and always worth a look.

San Lorenzo Maggiore, Naples

Steps away from the tumult of the street of the Christmas creches I found my favourite church in Naples.

Bill pushed open a door and we stepped into the Gothic silence of the nave of San Lorenzo Maggiore.

On our way to the altar we looked at the side chapels.

We found four martyrs with the instruments of their deaths.

Christ's mother in her guise as the Queen of Heaven.

San Lorenzo has an ambulatory allowing a semi-circular walk behind the altar. Don't miss it.

Pass this astonishing tomb.

Drink in the Gothic arches.

Find wonderful little side chapels. 

Who is this saint or martyr with his Memento Mori?

And who is both laid to rest and raised up?

Bill and I emerged from the ambulatory as the light from the high windows illuminated these devotional figures.

More side chapels, on our way out -- satisfying placement!

Fun to find dispirit elements abutting so charmingly. At first we thought the central temple was on fire

but a closer look reveals a book bound in pink on a pink cushion. Philip Guston pinks.

Joseph and an ox at the Nativity share a mood.

On our way out, these church ladies called out to us. They had prayer cards for sale. I found some for St. Anthony, a saint from my childhood. These I bought.

Cloister of Santa Chiara, Naples

"Look Bill, Santa Chiara has got some Gentileschis!"

"We'll definitely check that out."

The cloister of Santa Chiara is a large square space bounded on all four sides by graceful arcades.

Be sure to look up as the arches are astonishing.

In the central courtyard the orange trees were bearing fruit.

The central courtyard is meditative, with elegant walkways,

fountains, and beautifully maintained greenery.

People visit the cloister of S Chiara for the Majolica tiles.

Even the seating is tiled in elegant designs.

Here's an absorbing detail on the back of one of the seats.

Nearby this fountain has a relaxing Arabic feel.

How old is this twisted tree?

John decided to document the wall frescos. I particularly like this saint being visited by angels.

The door to the bookstore and gift shop also leads to an art gallery filled with religious sculpture.

It is always interesting to find human figures like these two lads on a tour near the frescoes.

As it turned out the church had only one Gentileschi -- a portrait of The Magdalene. painted before 1635. It was damaged in that explosion in the Bay of Beirut in 2020.

It has now been restored and is being shown in Naples for the first time in 400 years.