Chiesa di San Filippo Neri

San Filippo Neri is a concealed church within the blocks behind Palazzo Masdoni in Reggio Emilia. Without an independent street facade, its architectural character is concentrated in its interior and adjoining oratory.

Why it matters

The church represents the religious and artistic presence of the Filippini congregation. Its enclosed setting differs from the city's churches facing monumental squares, while its paintings connect it with local artistic traditions.

What to notice

Orazio Talami's Adoration of the Magi is a principal painting, accompanied in the apse by Domenico Pellizzi's Saint Philip Neri. Other features include a polychrome wooden crucifix and decorated altar frontals. The choir gallery carries copies after Correggio's Annunciation, Madonna della Scodella and Madonna with Saint Jerome. In the adjacent Oratorio della Trinità, painted ceilings depict the Assumption, the Trinity and angels.

Context and history

Reconstruction for the Filippini began in 1672 to designs by Girolamo Beltrami and continued in phases until consecration in 1743. The adjoining oratory later acquired a very different use as a printing works after the Second World War, adding an industrial episode to the history of the religious complex.