Sacred Architecture in the Neapolitan Baroque Era. Space, Decorations, and Allegories

Abstract

In Naples (Italy), the passage from Renaissance to Baroque architectonic language could be identified between 1580 and 1612. During this era, one of the most significant topics of the architectonic research on the sacred space was the right compromise among the Counter-Reformation patterns, the central space and the oval plan. Giovanni Antonio Dosio and Dionisio di Bartolomeo were the most representative architects of this passage. They provide the access to new experimental varieties. So, when the architect Cosimo Fanzago arrived in Naples in 1612, the city was almost ready to use the emblematic ellipse plan of the Baroque, such as the churches Santa Maria della Sanita` and San Giovanni dei Fiorentini by Fra’ Nuvolo prove. Fanzago’s architectonic research was followed by the studies by Bartolomeo and Francesco Antonio Picchiatti, father and son, up to Domenico Antonio Vaccaro that was the most representative director of the Baroque sacred space scene. Moving from the analysis and comparison of the most representative churches of Neapolitans Baroque era, the paper proposes an unedited studio about the evolution of sacred space’s idea related to decoration, symbology and allegory, with a focus on Domenico Antonio Vaccaro’s works, such as the churches of Santa Maria della Concezione in Montecalvario neighbourhood, San Michele Arcangelo in Naples’ Piazza Dante, San Michele in Anacapri (on Capri Island), the Palazzo Abbaziale di Loreto and Saviour Church in San Guglielmo al Goleto Monastery, both near Avellino.