San Lorenzo Maggiore

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entry June 2009

San Lorenzo Maggiore was built in the great wave of Gothic church building in Naples, meaning, roughly, the 100 years between 1250 and 1350. The beginning of that period corresponds with the take-over of southern Italy by the French Angevin dynasty and the move of the capital of the kingdom from Palermo to Naples; thus, politics had at least as much to do with the presence of new, large churches in Naples as did the new architectural techniques that made such construction possible. Besides San Lorenzo, other major churches from that period include the Duomo, Donnaregina (new), Santa Chiara and San Domenico Maggiore. Of these, San Lorenzo is probably the least known to those who visit Naples. (Perhaps Donna Regina is less known, but only because it was closed for many years and has only recently reopened as a museum of religious art.) The church of San Lorenzo Maggiore is at the precise geographic center of the ancient Greco-Roman city (n.29 on this map), at the intersection of via San Gregorio Armeno and via dei Tribunali. Originally, the entire complex included an adjacent monastic complex, today a museum; thus, the term “San Lorenzo” may refer to the church, the museum or even the Roman archaeological site beneath the church itself.

The origins of the church go back to the presence of the Franciscan order in Naples during the lifetime of St. Francis of Assisi, himself. The site of the present church was to compensate the order for the loss of their earlier church on the grounds where Charles I of Anjou decided to build his new fortress, the Maschio Angioino in the late 13th century.

Fanzago's Chapel of St. Anthony

The church has been hit numerous times by natural disaster such as earthquakes and man-made interference such as overlays of later Spanish Baroque architecture, but that is equally true of almost every other medieval church in Naples. There have been attempts to “re-restore” parts of the church (the way they did with Santa Chiara when it was returned to its original Gothic bleakness in the 1950s after the church had been destroyed by a bomb in WWII). Thankfully, the “repristinators” have left later work by Cosimo Fanzago (the Cacace chapel) and Ferdinando Sanfelice (the facade) alone.

Although some of the paintings originally within the church were moved to the Capodimonte museum, “immovable” works remain, including the main altar, considered one of the most beautiful in Naples; it was the work of Giovanni da Nola (Giovanni Merliano) (1488-1558), a prolific architect and sculptor who works still adorn many sites in Naples. Also present are a number of funerary monuments such as the tomb of Catherine of Austria (the daughter-in-law of Robert of Anjou); it is the first work in Naples by Tino da Camaino (1280-1337).

Neapolitan political philosopher, Gaetano Filangieri (1752-88) said that much of the history of Naples came together in the church of San Lorenzo. Indeed, there are some interesting “comings-together.” For example, during Masaniello’s revolt (1547), the rebels captured the church and monastery and used the belfry as an artillery position. On a less belligerent note, students of Italian literature or even, generally, of European literature and culture may know that San Lorenzo is where Giovanni Boccaccio first set eyes on the love of his life, the lady Fiammetta (really Maria d’Aquino, the married daughter of King Robert the Wise of Anjou). It was during mass on the Saturday before Easter of 1334. He was thus inspired to write Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta, a novel in the form of a first person confessional monologue, often called the first "psychological novel" in Western literature.