Early modern Naples has been characterized as a marginal, wild and
exotic place on the fringes of the European world, and as such an
appropriate target of attempts, by Catholic missionaries and
others, to 'civilize' the city. Historiographically bypassed in
favour of Venice, Florence and Rome, Naples is frequently seen as
emblematic of the cultural and political decline in the Italian
peninsula and as epitomizing the problems of southern Italy. Yet,
as this volume makes plain, such views blind us to some of its most
extraordinary qualities, and limit our understanding, not only of
one of the world's great capital cities, but also of the wider
social, cultural and political dynamics of early modern Europe. As
the centre of Spanish colonial power within Europe during the
vicerealty, and with a population second only to Paris in early
modern Europe, Naples is a city that deserves serious study.
Further, as a Habsburg dominion, it offers vital points of
comparison with non-European sites which were subject to European
colonialism. While European colonization outside Europe has
received intense scholarly attention, its cultural impact and
representation within Europe remain under-explored. Too much has
been taken for granted. Too few questions have been posed. In the
sphere of the visual arts, investigation reveals that Neapolitan
urbanism, architecture, painting and sculpture were of the highest
quality during this period, while differing significantly from
those of other Italian cities. For long ignored or treated as the
subaltern sister of Rome, this urban treasure house is only now
receiving the attention from scholars that it has so long deserved.
This volume addresses the central paradoxes operating in early
modern Italian scholarship. It seeks to illuminate both the
historiographical pressures that have marginalized Naples and to
showcase important new developments in Neapolitan cultural history
and art history. Those developments showcased here include bot
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