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422 Annali d’italianistica 30 (2012)
occupation expanded the Greek city beyond the grid” creating a “vibrant and
original villa culture that made the city famous” (9). He goes into detail about
the redundancy of Neapolitan walls in the Middle Ages, which were
compromised when the city opened itself to southern influences and “became
the largest city of the Italian peninsula south of Rome” (10).
Explaining connections between works of ancient and medieval art, and
architecture and its southern influences, Tronzo describes Naples as “an entity,
an ethos, a collective project of the human spirit” (11), which preserved its
honor through adversity and change. Tronzo furthers his study of the early
Middle Ages by analyzing the catacombs, particularly San Gennaro, the last and
largest catacomb in Naples, which “remained accessible throughout the Middle
Ages, serving for tombs as well as other important functions, including the
defense of the city in the Second World War” (14). Fascinated by the
catacombs, the author states “there is truly nothing comparable, not even in
Rome” (21). He also gives an account of the historical cathedral complex,
including the nave, Santa Restituta, and its baptistery, San Giovanni in Fonte.
The remains of Santa Restituta include “six bays of a five-aisled nave, portions
of the northern terminal wall and the main apse” (28).. The early Middle Ages
brought a decline in population due to “plague years of the sixth century and the
invasions of the Goths and Lombards” (41). There are a few traces of the period
of the duchy, “indicating a lessening of building activities” (43). However, the
tower of Santa Maria Maggiore now remains freestanding and it is one of the
earliest of a series of medieval passage towers.
Caroline Bruzelius begins the second chapter by analyzing the high and late
Middle Ages, explaining that the “grid plan of the ancient Greco-Roman city
deeply influences the topography of medieval Naples” (49), which is filled with
churches and monasteries. She furthermore observes how the surviving churches
“reflect the persistence of strong local Campanian traditions in architecture and
its decoration and yet at the same time an openness to foreign influences and
imported structural concepts” (55). The focus then shifts to the patronage of the
pious confraternities, the Angevins, and the Churches of the Friars. In the 1270s
Naples became increasingly valued as a political and economic center, which
stimulated urban projects and emphasized the importance of patronage from
private donors. Bruzelius dedicates a significant portion of her chapter to San
Lorenzo, “one of the best known and loved churches of Naples” (71). San
Lorenzo has an extensive building history of reconstruction, delayed
completions, and extensions that reflect the changes in Franciscan architecture
throughout Italy. While the history of San Domenico is much less extensive, it
proves the importance of Tuscan artists in Naples. Bruzelius praises the artistic
contributions of Tino di Camaino, Montano d’Arezzo, Pietro Cavallini, and
Giotto. Especially noteworthy is Tino who “was invited to Naples in 1323 to
execute the tomb of Catherine of Austria” (81) and “initiated a type of
monument in Naples that was to continue for decades and that spread throughout