Sant'Angelo a Segno

Coordinates: 40°51′03″N 14°15′22″E / 40.8507°N 14.2562°E / 40.8507; 14.2562
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Sant'Angelo a Segno, Naples Sant’Angelo a Segno or Sant’Archangelo a Segno is a Roman Catholic church in Naples, Italy, located on Via dei Tribunali number 45.

Entrance portal to church.

History[edit]

This church recalls the apparition of St Michael, the church's patron, alongside the army of Giacomo di Marra and the bishop Sant'Agnello of Naples (also called Sant'Aniello Abate) during a 6th-century repulse of besieging Lombards. The church was called a Segno (a sign) because it putatively had a nail driven into the marble as a testament that here was the limit of Lombard penetration into Naples. Other sources anachronistically invoke battles against the Saracens.[1]

A plaque at the front door still commemorates the victory of in Neapolitan forces over the Lombards. A church at the site likely dates to the 7th century, although the present structure dates to a reconstruction in 1825 by Luigi Malesi. The artworks once inside the church are now in the Museo di Capodimonte: including a Circumcision of Christ (1622) by Simon Vouet, St Thomas of Canterbury, a work by a member of the school of Giovanni Balducci, Santa Rosa, by Simonelli, a member of the school of Luca Giordano, and the main altarpiece of St Michael Archangel by Francesco Pagano. The church is closed for worship.[2][3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Le chiese di Napoli By Luigi Catalani, page 120.
  2. ^ Napoligrafia website, entry on church.
  3. ^ Il Portale del Sud website, entry by Ciro La Rosa.

40°51′03″N 14°15′22″E / 40.8507°N 14.2562°E / 40.8507; 14.2562