SAN GREGORIO ARMENO, NAPLES.
Armenian nuns founded this church in Naples in the 8th century, having fled Byzantium with the relics of St Gregory to avoid persecution. The church and convent was rebuilt in the 16th century but the church entrance and interior was remodelled in the dramatic and flamboyant Baroque style seen in the 18th century.
Baroque style had its origins in Rome in the late 16th century and was essentially a reaction to the increasing influence of the Protestant Reformation. The catholic church establishment commissioned architects and artists to come up with something that would help re-establish the pre-eminence of the church in the popular imagination. Rich materials, elaborate exaggerated classical constructions with an emphasis on creating drama and an emotional response was the result and it spread from Rome (St Peter's was essentially its first great manifestation) to all parts of Italy and then to Europe, gradually also encroaching on the secular establishment too.
The interior of San Gregorio Armeno, in its 18th century makeover, brought these decorative qualities to the church interior in spades through architectural fittings, painting and through the decorative arts. Here is an extravaganza which takes the breath away even today even though its a much dimmer and grimier place than it would have been in the 1700's. Shock and awe would have been the by-word in the day and who wouldn't have been impressed by what was on display?
Hard to believe this is all just off the busy and bustling Via San Gregorio Armeno - the street of the presepe shops.
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