L’oratorio della Confraternita dei Neri

Right next door to San Giovanni Battista is the chapel of the Brotherhood of Death and Prayer: Mortis et Orationis. Dating to the 16^th century, it belongs to one of the surviving charitable lay groups created during the Counter-​Reformation when the Catholic church, under threat from the spread of Protestantism, decided it needed to clean up its act. Confraternita dei Neri — Fraternity of Blacks — was responsible for the welfare of orphans, widows and victims of shipwreck, and burial of the destitute, and «black» refers to the color of attire they wore in religious processions.
The Fraternity is still somewhat active but their services are not in the same demand they once were — which probably accounts for the somewhat «frayed» state of the Church that Gayle and I observed. Entrance is free but donations for restoration are gratefully accepted.