Country Italy Status Active Architectural type Church | Denomination Roman Catholic Architectural style Baroque architecture | |
 | ||
Location Naples
Province of Naples, Campania Diocese Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples Similar Santa Maria Incoronat, Palazzo Cellammare - Naples, San Giorgio dei Genovesi, Palazzo San Felice - Naples, Music conservatories of Naples | ||
The Church of Pietà dei Turchini is a religious building in Naples, Italy. The church was built in 1592–1595 by the Confraternity of the Incoronatella, a small church on Rua Catalana. The church was nearly destroyed by an explosion in the Castel Nuovo in 1638. It was rebuilt in 1638–1639, when it acquired a dome. The facade was completed in 1769–70 by Bartolomeo Vecchione.
Contents
Description
The interior hosts two paintings by Luca Giordano in the third chapel to right, including a Deposition; a Holy Family (1617) by Battistello Caracciolo. The ceiling canvases, painted by Marulli and Annella di Massimo, were removed in the past centuries.
The confraternity, also known as the Congregation of ‘’Bianchi dell'Oratorio’’ referring to the white robes worn by members, was involved in the welfare of orphan children abandoned in the nearby church of Incoronatella in Rua Catalana. In time, needing more space they moved here to via Medina, founding an orphanage, this church, and the annexed conservatory (Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini). The name derives from the turquoise tunic worn by the orphans, who were conserved here.
The orphanage instructed the children in art, specially music and singing, and the Conservatory produced or was associated with masters of Italian music. Among its pupils were Scarlatti, Giovanni Paisiello, and Giovan Battista Pergolesi. While the orphanage no longer remains, the building is used for concerts, including by the foundation of Centro di Musica Antica Pietà de' Turchini, which specializes in performing classical Neapolitan music, including works associated historically with the conservatory associated with this church and orphanage complex.