Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia”
Through research residencies for advanced graduate students, small field seminars, and larger programs organized with partner institutions, the Center fosters research on Naples as a site of cultural encounter, exchange, and transformation, and cultivates a network of scholars working at the intersection of the global and the local.
2025
FIELD SEMINAR
Unruly Iconographies / Iconografie Indisciplinate: Exceptions or New Patterns?
Organized in connection with Unruly Iconographies? at the Index of Medieval Art, Princeton University
June 12-13, 2025
View the Call for Papers
2024
FIELD STUDIO
Metabolic Naples
Co-organized by the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia” and TETI Group
June 27-29, 2024
By invitation; view the program
SPRING RESEARCH PRESENTATION
The Neapolitan Collection of Giuseppe Valletta – Art, Artefacts, and their Epistemic Functions at the Crossroads of Knowledge around 1700
Şirin Datli (PhD Candidate, Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf / 2023-2024 Predoctoral Research Resident at La Capraia)
June 13, 2024
By invitation; La Capraia / Zoom
SPRING RESEARCH PRESENTATION
La confraternita di Nuestra Señora de la Soledad: riti e immagini sacre nella Napoli spagnola / The Confraternity of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad: rituals and sacred images in Spanish Naples.
Gioele Scordella (PhD Candidate, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa / 2023-2024 Predoctoral Research Resident at La Capraia)
June 12, 2024
By invitation; on site at chiesa di Santa Caterina da Siena
SPRING RESEARCH PRESENTATION
Between Divinity and Catastrophe: Urban Intervention in Naples and Catania in the Late Seventeenth Century
Marian Berthoud (PhD Candidate, Temple University / 2023-2024 Predoctoral Research Resident at La Capraia)
June 6, 2024
By invitation; Zoom
SPRING RESEARCH PRESENTATION
Reconstructing the history of Renaissance libraries in the Kingdom of Naples: first considerations on the illuminated book collection of Antonello Petrucci (†1487).
Michela Perrotta (PhD Candidate, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” / 2023-2024 Predoctoral Research Resident at La Capraia)
June 5, 2024
By invitation; Zoom
BOOK PRESENTATION
A companion to the Renaissance in Southern Italy (1350-1600) edited by Bianca De Divitiis (Brill 2023)
February 26, 2024
With the participation of Giancarlo Alfano (Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”), Renata De Lorenzo (Società Napoletana di Storia Patria), Marco Folin (Università di Genova), Sarah K. Kozlowski (Centro per la Storia dell’Arte e dell’Architettura delle Città Portuali “La Capraia”), Andrea Mazzucchi (Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”), Tanja Michalsky (Bibliotheca Hertziana–Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte)
View the poster
2023
BOOK PRESENTATION
Immaginare il potere. Il soffitto dipinto della sala magna di palazzo Steri e la cultura letteraria e artistica a Palermo nel Trecento by Licia Buttà (Edizioni Dell’Orso 2022)
October 16, 2023
With the participation of Sarah K. Kozlowski (Centro per la Storia dell’Arte e dell’Architettura delle Città Portuali “La Capraia”), Costanza Miliani, Angela Bellia and Gemma Colesanti (Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), and Paola Vitolo (Dipartimento di Architettura Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”) Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale, Naples
View the poster
INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE
Soundscapes of Naples: From the Medieval to the Early Modern
June 8-10, 2023
Co-organized by the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia” (a partnership between the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at the University of Texas at Dallas and the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte) and the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin
Download the full program
DIGITAL SEMINAR SERIES
Artists and Maritime Technology
April 7, 14, 21, 28, and May 5, 2023
Convened digitally on Zoom
Co-organized by Gabriel Gee (Franklin University Switzerland and TETI Group) and The Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities
View the program
View the topics
BOOK PRESENTATION
Portable Panel Paintings at the Angevin Court of Naples: Mobility and Materiality in the Trecento Mediterranean by Sarah K. Kozlowski (Brepols 2022)
April 4, 2023
With the participation of Renata De Lorenzo (Società Napoletana di Storia Patria), Costanza Miliani and Gemma Colesanti (Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), Amedeo Feniello (Università degli Studi dell’Aquila), Alessandra Perriccioli and Teresa D’Urso (Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”)
Società Napoletana di Storia Patria in Castel Nuovo, Naples
Download the program
2022
STUDY DAY
La Basilica di Sant’Angelo in Formis nella candidatura UNESCO “Gli insediamenti benedettini altomediali in Italia”
October 19, 2022
Curated by Teresa D’Urso, Alessandra Perriccioli and Lucina Speciale, and organized by “La Capraia” and the Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” – Dipartimento di Lettere e Beni Culturali
Download the program
SCHOLARS’ SEMINAR
Porcelain Rooms in a Global Context
June 23 – 24, 2022
Organized by Sarah Kozlowski (Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History / Centro per la Storia dell’Arte e dell’Architettura delle Città Portuali “La Capraia”) and Meredith Martin (New York University / Institute of Fine Arts) with the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte
Download the flyer and program
SPRING SITE PRESENTATION
Becoming Neapolitan: Adriatic Identity in the Arts of Naples
June 13, 2022
Jacob Eisensmith (PhD Candidate, University of Pittsburg / 2021-2022 Predoctoral Research Resident at La Capraia)
Santa Maria La Nova, Naples
FIELD SEMINAR
Gateways to Medieval Naples
June 7 – 9, 2022
Organized in collaboration with Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte and Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II – Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici
Read more here
Download the flyer, short-form program, and long-form program
SPRING RESEARCH PRESENTATION
Steering Her Own Ship: Power and Female Agency on the Naevoleia Tyche Relief
May 19, 2022
Crystal Rosenthal (PhD Candidate, University of Texas at Austin / 2021-2022 Predoctoral Research Resident at La Capraia)
Held digitally on Zoom
WINTER SCHOOL
La Technical art history e il mestiere di curatore
January 24 – 28, 2022
Organized in collaboration with the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte and the Università della Campania “Luigi vanvitelli”
View the program here
2021
STUDY DAY
The Art of Conservation: A Study Day with Bruno Arciprete
October 14, 2021
With the participation of Angela Cerasuolo (Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte) and Andrea Zezza (Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”)
View the program here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Natural Disaster and the Bay of Naples: Artistic Encounters and Transformations
June 19, 2021
Convened digitally on Zoom
Co-organized by The Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities and Franklin University Switzerland
Download the Call for Proposals
View the program here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Cities on the edge: a tour from Liverpool to Naples and back again
April 23, 2021
Gabriel N. Gee (Franklin University Switzerland)
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
The Naples Collection at Compton Verney
April 9, 2021
Annelise Hone and Amy Orrock (Compton Verney Art Gallery & Park)
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Circa 1656: Partenope, Plague and Mattia Preti’s Martyrdom of Saint Paul
March 26, 2021
James Anno (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Farnese Drawings at Capodimonte
March 12, 2021
Claire Van Cleave (American Friends of Capodimonte / Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte)
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
The formation of American collections of ancient art
March 5, 2021
Elizabeth Molaceck (The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History)
Co-presented with the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Digitizing the collections of the Museo di Capodimonte: new insights, new discoveries, new stories to tell
February 2, 2021
Carmine Romano (Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte)
Watch the recording here
2020
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Why Make an Image Website? Digital Tools and New Perspectives in Art History
December 11, 2020
Caroline Bruzelius (Professor, Duke University)
Paola Vitolo (Professor, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Sulle tracce di Padre Resta nelle collezioni di Capodimonte
November 20, 2020
Gianluca Puccio (PhD Candidate, Università degli studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli – 2020-2021 Affiliated Predoctoral Researcher at La Capraia)
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Sights and Sounds of the Square: Reconstructing the Tribunale della Vicaria in Seicento Naples
November 13, 2020
Edward Payne (Assistant Professor, Aarhus University – 2020-2021 Affiliated Postdoctoral Researcher at La Capraia)
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Healing Environments of Chronic Infirmity: The Ospedale degli Incurabili in Sixteenth-Century Naples
October 30, 2020
Elizabeth Duntemann (PhD Candidate, Temple University – 2018-2019 Predoctoral Research Resident at La Capraia)
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Power on Death’s Borders: Fuga’s Camposanto for the Hospital of the Incurabili and the Politics of Burial Reform in Eighteenth-Century Naples
October 16, 2020
Fabrizio Ballabio (PhD Candidate, University of York – 2018-2019 Predoctoral Research Resident at La Capraia)
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Introduction to the projects of 2020-2021 Predoctoral Research Residents at La Capraia
October 2, 2020
- Crystal Rosenthal (PhD Candidate, The University of Texas at Austin)
Agents on the Shore: Freestanding Arches in Roman Port Cities - Jacob Eisensmith (PhD Candidate, University of Pittsburgh)
Ottoman Otranto: Southern Italian Artistic Responses to an Ottoman Invasion
Watch the recording here
DIGITAL RESEARCH SEMINAR
Research updates from 2019-20 Predoctoral Researcher Residents at La Capraia
September 21, 2020
- Diana Mellon (PhD Candidate, Columbia University)
Health, Bathing, and Site-Specificity in the Illuminated De balneis Puteolanis - Claire Jensen (PhD Candidate, University of Toronto)
Annunziata Art: Trecento Frescoes in Sant’Agata de’ Goti - Lisa Malberg (PhD Candidate, Ruhr University Bochum)
Theatine Churches in Naples: Sacred Space and Urban Context in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Naples - Nathan Reeves (PhD Candidate, Northwestern University)
Urban Space, Plebe Musicians, and Buon Governo in Spanish Naples, 1537-1632
LECTURE
From the South Seas to Naples. James Cook’s Polynesian Objects in Ferdinand IV’s Collections
January 16, 2020
Carmine Romano (Museo di Capodimonte, Digitazion Project)
Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte / La Capraia
View the program here
SYMPOSIUM
Caravaggio a Napoli. Ricerche in corso
January 13-14, 2020
Organized in collaboration with Prof. Maria Cristina Terzaghi (Università Roma Tre), Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, and Amici di Capodimonte
View the program here
LECTURE
The Stolen Crown: a Bridge Between Worlds
January 10, 2020
Jacopo Gnisci (Getty/ACSL Fellow at the University of Oxford)
Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte / La Capraia
View the program here
2019
STUDY DAY
Dal museo alla città: due giornate di studi sul ciborio di Santa Patrizia a Capodimonte
November 11-12, 2019
Prof. Sabina de Cavi (Universidad de Cordoba) and Prof. Maria Teresa Como (Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa)
Museo di Capodimonte, and on site in the city
View the program here
WELCOME COLLOQUIUM
October 1, 2019
Presentations by the Center’s 2019-2020 Research Residents
Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte / La Capraia
View the program here
SITE-BASED SCHOLARS’ SEMINAR
Oceans, Art, and Markets: Fifty Years of International Research and Methodologies
May 30-June 1, 2019
Organized in collaboration with Sabina de Cavi and the project Merchants and Artists: Provision and Circulation of Artistic Materials and Works of Art between Genoa and Lisbon 1450-1600
Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte / La Capraia, and on-site in the city
View the program here
LECTURE
Abitare un fondaco al Cavone: dall’archivio alle fonti orali, tracce e memorie della cultura popolare
February 25, 2019
Brigitte Marin and Marcello Anselmo (Aix-Marseille Université et École des hautes Études)
Museo di Capodimonte
View the program here
2018
STUDY DAY
The Ancient Port of Naples, with Prof. Rabun Taylor (UT Austin)
November 5, 2018
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, and on-site in the city
View the program here
WELCOME COLLOQUIUM
Presentations by the Center’s 2018-2019 Research Residents
September 29, 2018
Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte / La Capraia
View the program here
2017
SYMPOSIUM
Napoli, Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in un contesto mondiale
October 12-14, 2017 Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte
Visit the Symposium page
