Santa Maria della Stella is a church located on Via Stella 25 in the quartiere of its name in

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.

History

The church was built in 1571, to host an icon of the Virgin, previously held in an

aedicule In ancient Roman religion, an ''aedicula'' (plural ''aediculae'') is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns and typically framing a statue,"aedicula, n." ...

near

Porta San Gennaro The Porta San Gennaro is one of the ancient gates of the city of Naples, located just southwest of the edge of the Piazza Cavour, just off the busy Via Foria and leading to a pedestrian alley, just east and parallel to Via Duomo. History This is ...

. The Minims rebuilt and enlarged the church in 1587 using designs commissioned by

Domenico Fontana Domenico Fontana (154328 June 1607) was an Italian architect of the late Renaissance, born in today's Ticino. He worked primarily in Italy, at Rome and Naples. Biography He was born at Melide, a village on the Lake Lugano, at that time joint p ...

. In 1637, a pupil of Fontana,

Bartolomeo Picchiatti Bartolomeo Picchiatti (Ferrara, 1571 – Naples, 3 April 1643) was an Italian engineer and architect. A short street in the Soccavo area of the city is named after him. Life He moved to Naples in 1593, having been summoned by the architect Do ...

, designed the facade, which was finally completed in 1734 by

Domenico Antonio Vaccaro Domenico Antonio Vaccaro (June 3, 1678 – June 13, 1745) was an Italian painter, sculptor and architect. He created many important sculptural and architectural projects in Naples. His later works are executed in an individualistic Rococo s ...

. Further reconstructions occurred in the 18th century. In an aedicule on the facade there was once a fresco of ''Madonna della Stella with Saints Gennaro and Francesco di Paola''. The interior, after the fire in 1944, was redecorated with works of art from other churches. The main altar for example is derived from the church of San Sebastiano and canvases by

Pietro del Po Pietro is an Italian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Pietro I Candiano (c. 842–887), briefly the 16th Doge of Venice * Pietro Tribuno (died 912), 17th Doge of Venice, from 887 to his death * Pietro II Can ...

are from the Palatine Chapel of the

Castel Nuovo Castel Nuovo (; "New Castle"), often called Maschio Angioino (; "Angevin Keep"), is a medieval castle located in front of Piazza Municipio and the city hall ( Palazzo San Giacomo) in central Naples, Campania, Italy. Its scenic location and impo ...

(''Birth of the Virgin'', ''Presentation in the Temple'' and ''Flight to Egypt''). At the end of the presbytery is an altarpiece by

Battistello 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, w ...

, depicting ''Immaculate Conception and Saints Domenic and Francis'' (1607), the only painting to survive the 1944 fire, since it was originally held in the sacristy. The sacristy is in

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style, executed by

Luca Vecchione The last universal common ancestor (LUCA) is the most recent population from which all organisms now living on Earth share common descent—the most recent common ancestor of all current life on Earth. This includes all cellular organisms; th ...

(1740–1745). There is a bust of Luigi Riccio (died 1643), bishop of

Vico Equense Vico Equense is a coastal town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, in southern Italy. Geography Vico Equense is part of the greater Bay of Naples metropolitan area and is a tourist destination. Located on a tuff cliff, it is ...

.Carlo De Lellis, ''Auctoris Vita a Carolo De Lellis … conscripta in De regibus Hispaniae, Hierusalem, Galliae, vtriusque Siciliae, & Vngariae, historia'', author Michaele Riccio, Neapoli, ex regia typographia Egidij Longhi, 1645. Immaculate Conception with Saints Dominic and Francis of Paola

Immaculate Conception with Saints Dominic and Francis of Paola

The monks were expelled from the convent in 1861, today it is occupied by the Caserma Podgora; the cloister has frescoes by a pupil of

Belisario Corenzio Belisario Corenzio ( el, Βελισσάριος Κορένσιος 1558–1646) 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 ...

References

Bibliography

*Vincenzo Regina, ''Le chiese di Napoli. Viaggio indimenticabile attraverso la storia artistica, architettonica, letteraria, civile e spirituale della Napoli sacra'', Newton e Compton editor, Naples 2004.

External links

Interior
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Stella Naples Churches in Naples 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Renaissance architecture in Naples Roman Catholic churches completed in 1571 1571 establishments in Italy