Complesso dei Girolamini

The Girolamini complex was constructed between the end of the 16th century and the middle of the 17th century. It derives its name from the religious followers of Saint Philip Neri, who held their inaugural meeting at the church of San Girolamo della Carità in Rome.

The complex underwent further enlargement and enrichment with the addition of works of art during the 18th century, ultimately becoming a National Monument in 1866 with the enactment of the laws subverting ecclesiastical heritage. The 'Girolamini', comprising the monumental church, the picture gallery and the renowned library, represent one of the most significant cultural concentrations in Naples.

The picture gallery, formed between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century thanks to donations, contains 16th-century paintings as well as important works by masters such as Andrea Sabatini da Salerno, Agostino Tesauro and Giovan Filippo Criscuolo. The Neapolitan painters Fabrizio Santafede and Girolamo Imparato, who were influenced by the rigorous Counter-Reformation culture, engage in a dialogue with the works of Federico Zuccari and Pomarancio, the Roman Cavalier d'Arpino and other exponents of late Mannerism from Umbria and Florence.

In the area of 17th-century naturalism, the works of Battistello Caracciolo, Jusepe De Ribera, Andrea Vaccaro, and Guido Reni, with his famous painting "The Meeting of Jesus with Saint John the Baptist," are of particular note.