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Impressions from the World

La Chiesa di Santa Chiara

ENGLISH:

The monumental Complex of Santa Chiara is located in the historic center of Naples. It was built between 1310 and 1340 by the will of King Robert I of Anjou. The Church was initially in the gothic style, but is was then renovated in the baroque style. Inside it there are some frescoes of the famous Italian painter Giotto. In 1943 it was destroyed by a bombing and it was then rebuilt and restored. The beautiful Cloister, fortunately, remained intact after the bombing. This last one was built by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro and it consists of 64 pillars, connected to each other by majolica seats and which are decorated by vine shoots. The majolica have some scene of everyday life, rural and mythological scenes. This magnificent Cloister is delimited by a huge porch which was painted in the first half of the 17th century and it is divided in 4 areas by two paths: two of this areas have the typical structure of the Italian garden, embellished by hedges and fountains; the other two parts are dedicated to cultivation. A particular characteristic of this Cloister is that one of the seats is painted in a different ways from the others: on this one it is depicted a scene from the life of the monastery, which represents a a nun who is feeding some cats. The decorations of the precious majolica were made by Donato and Giuseppe Massa.

The monumental Complex of Santa Chiara, but the Cloister in particular, is a really fascinating area and it is one of a kind: you won’t find in any other place some majolica decorated in such a refined and precise way.

ITALIANO:

Il Complesso monumentale di Santa Chiara si trova nel centro storico della città di Napoli. Fu costruito tra il 1310 e il 1340 per volontà del re Roberto I d’Angiò. La Chiesa era inizialmente di stile gotico, ma fu poi ristrutturata in stile barocco. Al suo interno ha lavorato uno dei più importanti pittori italiani: Giotto. Nel 1943 fu distrutta quasi interamente da un bombardamento e fu poi ricostruita e restaurata. Il bellissimo Chiostro, fortunatamente, rimase intatto dopo il bombardamento. Quest’utlimo fu costruito da Domenico Antonio Vaccaro ed è costituito da 64 pilastri collegati tra loro da sedute maiolicate e decorati da tralci di vite. Le maioliche riportano scene di vita quotidiana, scene agresti e mitologiche. Questo magnifico Chiostro è delimitato da un ampio porticato che fu dipinto nella prima metà del XVII secolo e diviso in quattro parti da due viali: due di queste hanno la tipica struttura del giardino all’italiana, abbellite da siepi e fontane; le altre due zone sono dedicate principalmente alla coltivazione. Una particolarità di questo Chiostro è che una delle sedute è dipinta in modo diverso dalle altre: su di essa è rappresentata una scena di vita tipica del monastero raffigurante una suora che ciba dei gatti. Le decorazioni delle preziose maioliche furono realizzate da Donato e Giuseppe Massa.

Il Complesso di Santa Chiara, ma in particolare il Chiostro, è un’area molto affascinante ed unica nel suo genere: maioliche decorate in modo così raffinato e preciso non le troverete da nessun altra parte.

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