itineraries:

| romanesque and medieval | reinaissance | baroque | rococo |

Piazza del Gesù: Spire of the Immacolata

The eighteenth century was a century of profound politics transformations which created a social-economic development  that the city hadn't  since centuries: this is noticeable in the evolution of the life and of the culture, consequently in the original works and in that ones changed in that time. In 1707  Spanish domination was replaced with the Austrian one: this change constituted an unexpected artistic renewal, in fact, the Austrians were liberal and supporter against the Baroque culture. They modified the justice, tried to stop the corruption of public administration and the baronial abuses of power and they supported the movement against the curia: but above all there was the freedom and equality for women. The encouragement of private initiatives  favoured the entrepreneurial class who consequently,  favoured the handicraft through requests of  comfortable and elegant furniture, placed in environments conceived as jewel boxes: dark colours were replaced with pastel colours and varnishes,  the gold was substituted for the silver and the white,  the pomp was substituted for the privacy, and the shadows for the light. So at the beginning of the century  Naples is avant-garde with the evolution of the style from Baroque to Rococo. In this climate can be placed the staircases with a "goose neck", the floors with majolics and the shepherds for the crib: three creations which will remain unique in the story of  Rococo style in a moment in which all the  Europe was linked to the Baroque style. 

Text of Gennaro Borrelli