Chiesa del Gesù

The Chiesa del Gesù, or the Madonna del Buon Consiglio, located in the historic center of Lecce, was built in the 16th century to welcome the Jesuits who arrived in the city following San Bernardino Realino.\n\nThe project was realized with rigorous and severe elegance in linear forms, and today it presents a refined two-story facade, marked by niches and pilasters and adorned by a portal topped with the coat of arms of the Society of Jesus, featuring two adoring angels sculpted in the soft local limestone.\n\nInside, a Statue of the Baby Jesus is preserved, along with the altar of the Virgin of Loreto from the destroyed Church of the Cappuccinelle, animated by reliquary busts of saints crafted in Lecce stone. The spectacular main altar, dating from the late 17th century, features concave curves accentuated by spirals in the shafts of the columns, statues, and paintings.\n\nNotable are the two paintings by the Neapolitan Mannerist Girolamo Imparato, which stand out in the Bozzicorso and Bozzicolonna chapels: Saint Jerome and the Annunciation of the Virgin, as well as paintings attributed to Paolo Finoglio, depicting the Virgin and the saints.