Early modern Naples has been characterized as a marginal place on the fringes of the European world. In recent historiography it has often been regarded as a city bypassed by the Renaissance and an emblem of cultural and political decline. Yet, as this volume makes plain, Naples is a city that deserves serious study. Contributions illuminate the historiographical pressures that have marginalized Naples and showcase important new developments in Neapolitan cultural and art history.

Melissa Calaresu is Lecturer in History at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, UK. Helen Hills is Professor of the History of Art at the University of York, UK.