Forging the Baroque: histories of Neapolitan art in the long 17th century

This course is an online Zoom event presented over three days. The recordings will be made available to everyone who has registered and will be available for 4 weeks.

A Spanish viceregal dominion and the second largest city in Early Modern Europe, Naples emerged as a vibrant artistic centre and an engine of devotional culture during the Baroque period.

Taking its cue from Caravaggio’s long-lasting legacy, witnessed by artists such as Jusepe de Ribera, Massimo Stanzione and Artemisia Gentileschi, this course aims to shed light on the invention and evolution of Neapolitan Baroque. Special emphasis will be placed on Neapolitan religious commissions and the chief role played by the Catholic Church in shaping a persuasive visual culture through the splendour of the arts. Luca Giordano’s fresco cycles in the Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo, Chiesa dei Gerolamini, and Chiesa di San Gregorio Armeno will be understood as part of an overarching scheme also comprising Cosimo Fanzago’s seminal sculptural and architectural projects. Mapping the strongholds of Neapolitan Baroque, the course ultimately aims to unveil the beauty and complexity of a city which has been persuasively labelled fedelissima and nobilissima (the most faithful and noblest) at the time of its aesthetic and commercial apex. An insight into the art market – epitomized by the strategies adopted by Luca Giordano, Salvator Rosa and Mattia Preti among others – will further illuminate our understanding of this unique artistic forge.

Lectures

Lecture 1: Thick shadows: painting in Naples in the aftermath of Caravaggio’s revolution
Lecture 2: Luca Giordano and the invention of the Baroque
Lecture 3: A triumph of the arts: the Certosa di San Martino
Lecture 4: ‘Napoli fedelissima’: Cosimo Fanzago’s religious commissions
Lecture 5: Beyond Naples: Mattia Preti and Salvator Rosa
Lecture 6: Scanning the art market: from frescoes to still lives