Santa Teresa degli Scalzi (previously known as the church of Santa Teresa al Museo, or of Santa Teresa agli studi or della Madre di Dio) is a church 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, located in via Santa Teresa degli Scalzi, a wide street opened during 1806–1810, to connect the historic center of Naples to the zone of Capodimonte. The church is generally closed to the public. Church construction began in 1604 and the church was consecrated in 1612 under the

Order of Discalced Carmelites The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...

thanks to the donations obtained by the Spanish Carmelite follower of St Teresa of Avila, the preacher Pietro della Madre di Dio.

Exterior

Construction of the church and convent were directed by

Giovan Giacomo di Conforto Giovanni Giacomo Di Conforto or Giovanni Giacomo Conforto (1569 – June 1630, in Naples) was an Italian architect and engineer, active mainly in Naples, Italy, in a late Mannerist style. He participated in the construction of many churches in Nap ...

, while

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 ...

in 1652 designed the facade with its two stucco statues of Saint Teresa d'Avila and St John of the Cross. In 1835, a ramp needed to be built when the street level was lowered. The interior is a Latin cross plan with a single nave; in the chapel are conserved works by

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

artists including

Paolo De Matteis Paolo de Matteis (also known as ''Paolo de' Matteis''; 9 February 1662 – 26 January 1728) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born in Piano Vetrale, a hamlet of Orria, in the current Province of Salerno, and died in Naples. He trained wit ...

and the Flemish painter

Niccolò De Simone Niccolò De Simone, also called ''Nicolò Fiammingo'', ''Lo Zet'', or ''Lopet'', (died c. 1677) was a Flemish painter, active during 1636–1654 in Naples, Italy. He was born in Liège. His style suggests he was in the circle or influenced by Jus ...

. There is also a tomb sculpted by

Tito Angelini Tito Angelini (1806–1878) was an Italian sculptor and leader of the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, where he was born and died. Biography Fountain of the River Amenano in the Piazza del Duomo, Catania His father, Costanzo Angelini, born ...

, statues 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 ...

, busts by

Matteo Bottigliero Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escen ...

and

Angelo Viva Angelo Viva (1748 in Naples, Italy - 27 February 1837 in Naples, Italy) was an Italian sculptor. His important works are the statuary '' La fontana del ratto di Europa'', the Statues of the Evangelists in the Chapel Pappacoda, the decorations of ...

and some decorations by Costantino Marassi. The second chapel on left has painting depicting the ''History of the Carmelite Order'' (1616–1620) 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 ...

, and the fourth chapel on the right has an ''Assumption of the Virgin with a choir of Angels'' (1613) 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 ...

Giacomo del Po Giacomo is an Italian name. It is the Italian version of the Hebrew name Jacob. People * Giacomo (name), including a list of people with the name Other uses * Giacomo (horse), a race horse, winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby * ''Giácomo'' (film) ...

painted the large canvases at the sides of the transept crossing; they depict the ''Battle of Prague'' and the ''Flight to Egypt'' and the cornices have figures depicting virtue and angels. The cupola, designed by Di Conforto, collapsed in 1835 likely due to faulty construction; the replacement has little artistic merit. This church has the only sculptural image of a member of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

in Naples in the form of an image of the Emperor Charles VII sculpted by

Giacomo Colombo Giacomo Colombo (1663–1730) was an Italian sculptor, painter and engraver, he worked in Naples, Italy in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Biography Colombo was born in 1663 in Este, Padua, Italy. He moved to Naples in 1678. Colombo ...

in 1715.

Former main altar

After the suppression of the religious orders in 1808, the ornate main altar completed by

Dionisio Lazzari Dionisio Lazzari (17 October 1617 – 9 August 1689) was an Italian sculptor and architect. He was born in Naples in 1617, the son of Jacopo Lazzari and Caterina Papini. Jacopo was born in Florence, and his and Dionisio's work shows Tuscan i ...

was transported to the Capella Reale of the

Royal Palace of Naples The Royal Palace of Naples ( it, Palazzo Reale di Napoli, italic=no, nap, Palazzo Riale ‘e Napule) is a palace, museum, and historical tourist destination located in central Naples, southern Italy. It was one of the four residences near Napl ...

, where it still can be found. The altar started in 1672, has two carved lateral doors (1691), a ciborium (1772), all in polychrome pietre dure and

lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...

and framed in gilded bronze. In this church, the replacement altar (1772–1773) derives from the church of Divino Amore.

The chapel of St Teresa of Ávila

The chapel of Saint

Teresa of Ávila Teresa of Ávila, OCD (born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada; 28 March 15154 or 15 October 1582), also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Spanish Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer. Active during th ...

was designed in 1640 by

; it has polychrome marble and decorative stucco. There are two paintings by

Ippolito Borghese Ippolito Borghese (late 16th century – March 1627) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance, born in Sigillo (near Perugia). His training was probably in Rome, where he became a follower of Scipione Pulzone and was influenced by the pai ...

and it contains an incongruous modern statue of the saint.

The convent

Originally the palace of the Duke of Nocera, the convent now houses various associations and institutes.

Bibliography

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

External links

{{Authority control Teresa degli Scalzi, Santa Teresa degli Scalzi, Santa Teresa degli Scalzi, Santa