Regine

The role of powerful women in Baroque Naples

This exhibition catalogue illustrates the crucial role that European queens played in building cultural, artistic and diplomatic relations between Naples and the rest of the continent. The exhibition is divided into seven thematic sections: from the education of future sovereigns to marriage alliances, from dynastic motherhood to public representation, from ceremonies to private life and personal interests, through to the influence exerted on the tastes and spaces of the courts.

The volume is edited by Valeria Di Fratta and Raffaele Orlando, providing an insight into the private and institutional lives, roles and imagery of the sovereigns of important dynasties who succeeded to the Neapolitan throne from the 18th century onwards, from the Farnese to the Habsburg-Lorraine and Bonaparte dynasties, up to the 20th century with the last Savoy rulers, highlighting aspects often overlooked by traditional historiography.

The exhibition focuses on how these women exercised a silent but profound power, capable of influencing tastes, political decisions and dynastic structures in the various palaces of the territory, including the Royal Palace of Naples and the Royal Palace of Portici, a favourite retreat of many sovereigns.

The essays include those by scholars as renowned as Wansart, Scognamiglio, Colle, Rao Brevetti and Manzi. The entries describe more than 200 works, including paintings, personal objects, sculptures, books, furniture, etc.