Sant'Angelo a Nilo
Encyclopedia
Sant'Angelo a Nilo is a church in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, Italy. It is known for containing the monumental tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci
Tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci
The Tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci is a sculptural work in the church of Sant'Angelo a Nilo in Naples, southern Italy, executed by Donatello and Michelozzo around 1426-1428...

 (Italian: Sepolcro del Cardinale Brancacci) by Donatello
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi , also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence...

 and Michelozzo
Michelozzo
thumb|250px|[[Palazzo Medici]] in Florence.Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi was an Italian architect and sculptor.-Biography:...

, one of the major sculptural works in the city.

Description

The church is located in the core of the ancient Greek-Roman city: it takes its name from the Egyptian Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...

, who was venerated here by the Egyptian merchants. It was begun in 1385 as a chapel, dedicated to Sts. Angel and Mark, by will of cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci, whose family had a palace nearby. The current appearance dates from a 1709 rebuilding, under the direction of Arcangelo Guglielmelli. Remains of the original Catalan-Gothic structure include the main portal, with an architrave featuring angels, and a fresco in the lunette
Lunette
In architecture, a lunette is a half-moon shaped space, either filled with recessed masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, where the arch springs. If a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the...

 with The Virgin Mary and Saints Michael and Baculus with Cardinal Brancaccio (15th century). A sculpture of St. Michael from another portal has been moved in the interior.

Artworks in the interior include the tomb of cardinal Brancaccio, canvasses from Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano was an Italian late Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain....

 school, a 16th century altarpiece by the Sienese painter Marco Pino
Marco Pino
Marco Pino or Marco da Siena was an Italian painter of the Renaissance and Mannerist period. Born and first trained in Siena, he later worked in Rome and in Naples, where he died. He was putatively a pupil of the painters Beccafumi and Daniele da Volterra. The biographer Filippo Baldinucci also...

 and a marble tabernacle in the sacristy.

Antonio Valente
Antonio Valente
Antonio Valente was an Italian Renaissance organist and composer. He was blind from childhood and served as organist of Sant'Angelo a Nilo in Naples in 1565–80...

, the first major keyboard composer of the Neapolitan school, was organist here in 1565–80.
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