The Evolution of History Painting: Masaniello's Revolt and Other Disasters in Seventeenth-Century Naples
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
6-1-1993
Department
Art and Art History
Abstract
This article focuses on history painting of contemporary events at the mid-seventeenth-century site of its intersection with the development of popular genre and the image and idea of the artist as revolutionary. Analysis of representations of three events in Naples—the eruption of Vesuvius, the plague, and Masaniello's revolt, in which several painters were said to have participated—provides a framework for examining issues surrounding the visualization of history as narrative, the function of such works as documentation and propaganda, their audiences, and subsequent interpretations.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
The Art Bulletin
Volume
75
Issue
2
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Roworth, Wendy W.. "The Evolution of History Painting: Masaniello's Revolt and Other Disasters in Seventeenth-Century Naples." The Art Bulletin 75, 2 (1993). doi: 10.1080/00043079.1993.10786536.