Mattia Preti's frescoes for the city gates of Naples

JAMES CLIFTON, "Mattia Preti's Frescoes for the City Gates of Naples"

Mattia Preti's Frescoes of the Immaculate Conception with saints destroyed), which were painted on seven of the city gates of Naples in response to the plague of 1656, were important works not only in the artist's career and the development of Neapolitan painting, but also in the civic life of Naples. Using the concept of "civic religion," this article examines the significance of the iconography and the function of the works in the context of local politico-religious concerns involving the Eletti (syndics), viceroys, the Deputies of Health, Jesuits, Theatines, and Neapolitans of every social class.--Art Bulletin, LXXVI, 3, 1994, 479-501.

COPYRIGHT 1994 College Art Association
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