The Church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli is a 16th-century

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located on the street of the same 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 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 re ...

, and located a block north of the

Academy of Fine Arts of Naples The Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli (Naples Academy of Fine Arts) is a university-level art school in Naples. In the past it has been known as the Reale Istituto di Belle Arti and the Reale Accademia di Belle Arti. Founded by King Charles VII o ...

History

Its name is allied to the cult of St Mary of Constantinople, the icon image of the virgin attributed originally to St Luke, which rose to prominence in 1527-1528, during one of the frequent attacks of plague afflicting the city. During this time, an elderly woman experienced an apparition of the Virgin who pleaded for the construction of a church where her image stood on a wall. Legend holds the image that was discovered prevented further outbreaks of the plague in Naples. Construction began in 1575, and continued till completion in the first years of the 17th century under the intervention of the Dominican architect Giuseppe Nuvolo. The façade was completed in 1633. The design is generally conservative with a central linear nave and two aisles, each with five chapels. The interior was decorated in stucco 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 ...

; the vaulting uses gilded wood. The chapel entries have carved lintelpieces by Niccolò Tagliacozzi Canale (1728). The first chapel on the right has an altarpiece of the ''Madonna of the Purity'' (17th century); the fourth chapel has a painting of the ''Martyrdom of St. Bartholemew'' (c. 1585) by the Flemish painter Aert Mytens. The high altar was designed in polychrome marble by

Cosimo Fanzago Cosimo Fanzago (Clusone, 12 October 1591 – Napoli, 13 February 1678) was an Italian architect and sculptor, generally considered the greatest such artist of the Baroque period in Naples, Italy. Facade Santa Maria della Sapienza. Biography Fanz ...

. It frames the 15th-century fresco of ''Santa Maria di Costantinopoli''; above it is a relief of ''God the father'' and to the side are statues of saints Rocco and Sebastian. The apse lunette was decorated by

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 ...

with a fresco of the ''Virgin & John the Baptist pleading with the Trinity to liberate Naples from the plague''. The arches hold images of prophets and sybils.

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Costantinopoli Naples 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches in Naples Baroque architecture in Naples