San Giuseppe church was erected in 1756-1796 under the patronage of the Benedictine order. The church and an adjacent convent of nuns occupied a site where prior to the 1693 earthquake had been located the church of San Tommaso. The architect is unknown, but in the circle of Rosario Gagliardi. Like many local churches, the façade has three highly sculpted order, decorated with statues of Saints of the Benedictine orders, including Saints Benedict and Mauro above and St Gertrude and Scolastica below. Near the entrance are statues of St Gregory the Great and St Augustine by Giambattista Muccio in 1775. The entrance portals have iron grillwork screens (1774) by Filippo Scattarelli.
The interior has an oval layout, but kept a large choir and coretti situated over the entrance and flanking the nave, where the nuns could hear the mass while remaining cloistered. Over the vault is a fresco depicting the Glory of St Benedict with St Joseph (1793) by Sebastiano Monaco. The walls are elaborately stuccoed (1793) by Agrippino Maggiore and the Cultrera di Licodia Eubea. The altars (19th century) have elaborate scagliola, and have altarpieces by Tommaso Pollace and Giuseppe Crestadoro, depicting the Trinity, St Mauro, St Benedict, and Ste Gertrude. The pavement has white stone and maiolica tiles. The Vestibule has statues depicting St Benedict (17th century) and a silver-coated St Joseph (1785).
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.