Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore a Caponapoli
church in Naples
Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore a Caponapoli or Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore is a church located in the historic center of Naples, Italy.
History
Work on the church and adjacent monastery began in 1447, inspired by the beatified Pietro da Pisa. The church was completed in 1473, but from 1516 to 1535 it underwent reconstruction, including the portal by Giovanni Francesco di Palma. Further reconstruction occurred in the 18th century. During the second half of the 18th century, it was a secret meeting place for members of Free Masonry, supposedly sponsored by the monk Serafino Pinzone (who was accused of revolutionary Jacobin leanings in 1794). In 1809, the church was suppressed, and in 1933 joined to the Hospital of Incurables (Ospedale degli Incurabili) under the original order of the monastery. But by the 1970s, the church was in poor state of conservation.
The interior is laid out as a Latin cross with chapels, and houses paintings by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro, Girolamo D'Auria, and a Madonna statue and a Deposition bas-relief by Giovanni da Nola. Among the masterworks in the church is the Renaissance burial monument of the Giovanniello de Cuntco and his wife, Lucrezia Filangieri di Candida (1517), sculpted by Giovanni Tommaso Malvito. Giovanello, secretary to the King of Aragon, reclines above in three dimensions, while his wife sleeps below in an elegant but simple bas-relief.
“Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore a Caponapoli” enters the record as church in Naples. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Santa, Maria and delle can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore a Caponapoli” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Santa, Maria and delle provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 24, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q1256361. VIAF identifies the subject as 243905370. Authority coordinates are 40.853, 14.254. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1447, 1473, 1516 and 1535.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore a Caponapoli”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore a Caponapoli primary sources, Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore a Caponapoli archive and Santa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore a Caponapoli”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Santa Maria delle Grazie Maggiore a Caponapoli” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.