Baroque, born in Italy between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, embraces not only art but also literature and music, spreading rapidly throughout Europe. Lecce represents one of the richest and most important examples of this style.
Rococo, on the other hand, is an artistic style that originated in France in the mid-18th century, with features of grace, refinement and delicacy. In Lecce it finds space in the so-called Chiesa della Nova aka Natività della Vergine.
Before becoming a convent and church, the place was the residence of Idomeneo, one of the Messapian founders of the city of Lecce. It is no coincidence that the Rococo church is located exactly in Via Idomeneo, near the small Paisiello theater.
In 68 AD, the patron saint of Lecce, St. Oronzo, was imprisoned in the place where the church stands today and was martyred shortly thereafter.
The church was strongly desired at the end of the 15th century by the noble citizen Nuzzo Cacudi, who chose to take his two daughters to the adjacent convent of the Dominican nuns.
The interior has an elliptical plan with a single hall and an apse.
The ceiling, covered by a keeled vault, is rich in stucco. There are five altars positioned in short niches adorned with false coffers. The respective canvases by Oronzo Tiso, a famous artist of the late Lecce Baroque, depict Saint Nicholas, the Virgin with Child and Saint Dominic, Our Lady of Sorrows, Saint Joseph with Child and the Nativity of the Virgin who gives her name to the Church.
di Davide Renna Chillino
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