Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo

The Church of Gesù Nuovo, so called to distinguish it from that of Jesus, is one of the most important Basilicas of Naples. The building was designed by Novello da San Lucano behest of Roberto Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno. Finished in 1470, the Palace was famous for the beauty of its frescoed rooms and the garden, as well as for being the center of the Neapolitan Renaissance and Baroqueculture. At the end of '500, the building was sold to the Jesuits, who completely disemboweled and consecrated it in 1601. The reconstruction work and completion of the Church last long: the structure was reinforced and the De Matteis completed the dome with the representation of "Glory of the Virgin". In 1767, the Church passed to the Reformed Franciscans. Because of subsequent collapse, the dome was demolished (later replaced by false-dome) and the Church was closed for about thirty years. During the bombing of the Second World War, a bomb fell on the ceiling and remained unexploded: today is exposed within the Church. The facade remains one of the Sanseverino Palace: characterized by particular bosses "diamond point" performed by local masons and its marble portal. The bosses carry particular signs, interpreted in 2010 by the art historian Vincenzo De Pasquale and Hungarian musicologists Csar Dors and Lorant Réz as Aramaic letters, notes of a score to be read from right to left and from bottom to top: it's a concert for plectrum instruments lasting three quarters of an hour. The Baroque interior, a Greek cross, has a rich marble decoration created by Fanzago in 1630. The dome, rebuilt by Ignatius of Nardo and consolidated by a reinforced concrete structure, has a spherical cap marked by lunette windows. The transept is decorated with paintings by Jusepe de Ribera, Cosimo Fanzago sculptures, paintings by Luca Giordano and Fabrizio Santafede. In the nave there are three chapels on each side, with marble decorations and valuable paintings.