The church of the Croce di Lucca is a religious edifice in central

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, on the Via dei Tribunali. CroceLuccaNapoli2

In 1534, the husband and wife, Andrea Sbarra and Cremona Spinelli founded at this site a monastery of the

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

. It was devoted to the image of the

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

, similar to one venerated in

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...

. Two years later, the widowed Spinelli became a nun. Later endowments came from the Prince of Altamura, who had five daughters join the order: Aurelia, Maria, Elena, Eleonora, and Elisabetta del Giudice. The church we see now was decorated in the 17th century, and remains despite the demolition of the once adjacent monastery. The monastery is now replaced with medical clinics of the University of Naples. The interior was decorated on designs by

Francesco Antonio Picchiatti Francesco Antonio Picchiatti (10 January 1619, Ferrara – 28 August 1694, Naples) was an Italian architect of the Baroque period active in Naples. He is also called Picchetto. He was son of Bartolommeo Picchiatti, who also served as an architect ...

. The nave ceiling has 16th century paintings depicting the '' Madonna del Carmine and Saints'' attributed to

Giovanni Battista Caracciolo Giovanni Battista Caracciolo (also called Battistello) (1578–1635) was an Italian artist and important Neapolitan follower of Caravaggio. He was a member of the murderous Cabal of Naples, with Belisario Corenzio and Giambattista Caracciolo ...

. Other works made for the church include puttini a chiaroscuro over the arches of the chapels by

Giovanni Battista Rossi Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * '' Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend ...

, pupil of Solimena. The first chapel on the left, has an ''Annunciation'' attributed to either

Francesco Curia Francesco Curia (1538–1610) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in his hometown of Naples. He was the son of the painter Michele Curia. He was a pupil of the painter Giovanni Filippo Criscuolo. Among his pupils were ...

or Manchelli, a pupil of Marco da Siena. The second chapel has paintings of ''Saints Domenico & Monica'' by Nicola Malinconico. The third chapel has a ''Santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi'' by the studio of Vaccaro. The altar and tabernacle are attributed to a Sanfelice in 1684. It has paintings by Giovanni Battista Rossi. The first chapel on the left had a ''Virgin of the Rosary'' by Balducci. The second, a ''Santa Teresa'' by a follower of Vaccaro. The third chapel has paintings and frescoes by Nicola Malinconico. A wooden Virgin sculpture was attributed to Domenico di Nardo. The sacristy frescoes are attributed to Lionardo Olivieri, also a pupil of Solimena.Commune of Naples
short description of church.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croce di Lucca Naples Former churches in Naples 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Renaissance architecture in Naples Baroque architecture in Naples