The Cappella Ravaschieri situated in the church of Gesù Nuovo in Naples includes an extremely impressive display of relics and reliquaries -- reminiscent, at first glance, to an ossuary chapel. The relics are contained in the lispanotheca designed by Giovan Domenico Vinaccia (1625-1695), a native Neopolitan who was also responsible for the design of the high altar of the Reale cappella del Tesoro di San Gennaro in that same city.
A slightly closer look:
The two sides combined contain seventy reliquaries containing relics of various early Christian martyrs and visitors to the chapel can read a detailed listing of which saints relics occupy which reliquaries.
While not our main focus, here is the chapel's altar which better shows how the reliquaries and relics are situated. It is an impressive display:
Turning back to Giovan Domenico Vinaccia, he was an accomplished goldsmith and it was mentioned earlier that he designed the major altar of the royal chapel of St. Januarius and that is certainly worth taking a look at in its own right:
In point of fact, all of his metalwork is worth taking a moment to look at, so here is just a small sampling of just some of his incredible work; work which ranges from statuary to portapalme.
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| St. Michael the Archangel |
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| Portapalme (An even more spectacular example can be seen here.) |
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| St. Joseph. Note the very expressive faces. |
