This church stands in Piazzetta Nilo, whose name derives from the ancient quarter of the Graeco-Roman city where the cult of the God of the Nile was practised. Built in 1385 by order of Cardinal Rinaldo Brancaccio as a tribute to St Michael, it was renovated by Guglielmelli in the 18th century. The church is commonly known as the Brancaccio Chapel because it was this family's private chapel.
The single-aisle interior contains, in the large apse chapel, the tomb of Rinaldo Brancaccio, sculpted in 1427-28 in Pisa by Donatello and Michelozzo and then sent to Naples. This sepulchral monument, which is in the "baldacchino" style typical of Gothic tombs, is of great importance as a product of Neapolitan Renaissance art .
The seventeenth century monument of Cardinals Francesco and Stefano Brancaccio, realised by Bartolomeo e Pietro Ghetti, is of particular importance.
Over the main altar, opposite the 17th-century monument of the Cardinals Francesco, Stefano Brancaccio di Bartolomeo and Pietro Ghetti, we notice the 1573 panel by Marco Pino of Archangel St Michael.
The sacristy leads to Palazzo Brancaccio (15th century) where in 1690 the first public library of Naples was opened.