WORKSHOP INTERNAZIONALE DISASTER TEXTS a cura di Elisabetta Scirocco, Chiara De Caprio, Domenico Cecere e Tanja Michalsky Roma, 15-16 dicembre 2016 Villino Stroganoff, Via Gregoriana 22 Nicolas Perrey, Stato del Monte Vesuvio doppo l’ultimo incendio de’ 16 di decembre 1631, in: Gianbernardino Giuliani, Trattato del Monte Vesuvio e de’ suoi incendi, in Napoli, appresso Egidio Longo, MDCXXXII Foto: Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte Gli eventi percepiti come disastrosi (fenomeni naturali estremi, guerre, carestie, epidemie) costituiscono da alcuni decenni un argomento di forte interesse nella ricerca storica e si prestano agevolmente a esperimenti d’analisi interdisciplinare. Il workshop “Disaster Texts” ospita presso la Bibliotheca Hertziana, Istituto Max Planck per la Storia dell’arte, il progetto Disaster Texts. Literacy, Cultural Identity, Coping Strategies in Southern Italy between the Late Medieval and the Early Modern Period (Progetto STAR 2013, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II), composto da filologi, storici della lingua, storici del medioevo e dell’età moderna, studiosi della letteratura italiana e spagnola. Il progetto, incentrato sul rapporto tra disastri e comunicazione nel Regno di Napoli tra il XV e il XVIII secolo, mira a ricostruire la rappresentazione di questi eventi attraverso le fonti testuali. Le ricerche presentate offriranno una panoramica sulla diversa natura di questi testi, sulla loro complessità e sui possibili livelli di lettura delle trame della storia: dalle strategie di raccolta e di presentazione delle informazioni all’analisi delle forme di narrazione adottate; dalle diverse categorie di attori coinvolti al ruolo da essi giocato per l’ideazione e la circolazione dei testi; dall’interpretazione e percezione degli eventi disastrosi alla loro ricaduta nella vita quotidiana e nelle pratiche sociali e culturali. In tale contesto si inseriscono le proposte d’indagine storico-artistica ospitate nel workshop, che intendono mostrare con casi di studio esemplari il ruolo svolto dalle immagini e il potere delle opere di culto in connessione con il verificarsi o il ricorrere di eventi disastrosi, guardando all’area centro-meridionale della penisola italiana tra il tardo medioevo e l’età moderna. Un gruppo internazionale di discussants, composto da specialisti afferenti a diversi ambiti disciplinari, seguirà e accompagnerà i lavori. A partire dagli studi offerti alla discussione, l’incontro si propone così di sondare i punti di contatto e le possibili piste di ricerca condivise tra la Storia dell’arte e le altre discipline storiche attorno al tema dei disastri. PROGRAMMA Giovedì 15 dicembre 11:00 Tanja Michalsky Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma Saluti Elisabetta Scirocco Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma Introduzione 11:30 Modera Tanja Michalsky Philine Helas Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma La storia di Giobbe. Un’interpretazione diversa delle catastrofi nella pittura italiana del Tre e Quattrocento Stefano D’Ovidio Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma Disastri e immagini prodigiose: alcuni esempi a Napoli e in area vesuviana Chiara De Caprio Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II La narrazione del disastro nel Regno di Napoli tra tardo Medioevo ed età moderna. Piste di ricerca e risultati del progetto Disaster Texts. Literacy, Cultural Identity, Coping Strategies in Southern Italy between the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period Pausa pranzo 14:30 Modera Elisabetta Scirocco Pasquale Palmieri Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II University of Texas at Austin Disastri e culto dei santi a Napoli (XVI-XVII secolo) Francesco Senatore Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II La voce di chi si è salvato. Suppliche di comunità rurali meridionali dopo la peste del 1478-80 Rita Fresu Università degli Studi di Cagliari «L'acqua correva con tanto impeto». Le esondazioni nella trattatistica italiana della prima età moderna: configurazioni testuali, modelli concettuali, aspetti linguistici Pausa caffè 16:30 Modera Francesco Gangemi Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma Giancarlo Alfano Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Orrore in contesto: un resoconto della peste napoletana del 1656 e la sua matrice culturale Domenico Cecere Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Stupire e rassicurare. Catastrofi e comunicazione politica nella Napoli del XVII secolo Discussants Carmen Belmonte Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – MPI  Stephen Cummins MPI für Bildungsforschung, Berlin  Emanuela Guidoboni Centro Euromediterraneo Eventi Estremi e Disastri, Bologna  Françoise Lavocat Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris III  Vinni Lucherini Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II  Gerrit Jasper Schenk Technische Universität Darmstadt Gerhard Wolf Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – MPI Riservato a Relatori e Discussants Venerdì 16 dicembre 9:30 Tavola rotonda Dirige e modera Xavier Barral i Altet Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma  Università di Venezia Ca’ Foscari  Université de Rennes II ENGLISH ABSTRACTS Philine Helas (Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte), The Story of Job. An Alternative Interpretation of Disasters in Fourteenth- and FifteenthCentury Italian painting In the Middle Ages, disasters, calamities and diseases in general are considered – following the biblical prototypes of the Flood, and Sodom and Gomorrah – as divine punishment for individual or collective sin. The Book of Job, however, contains an alternative interpretation of such events: Job is a righteous man who is tormented by Satan with God’s consent. He loses his livestock, his ten children, and ultimately his health. Nevertheless, Job’s faith remains steadfast, and he is finally rewarded once again with health, wealth, and new children. In medieval art, Job was typically represented as an isolated figure, often at the height of his suffering, naked and covered with sores. This iconographic formula underwent a dramatic shift during the fourteenth century, especially in Tuscany. The region saw the appearance of large cycles dedicated to the events of the story of Job in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (Taddeo Gaddi in the Campo Santo at Pisa, Bartolo di Fredi in the Collegiata of San Gimignano, and others). These cycles depict in detail the calamities suffered and faced by Job as described in the biblical text. Why this new interest? It can most likely be linked to the occurrence of disasters – floods, famines and epidemics – that hit Tuscany before the Black Death of 1348. Even Robert of Anjou consoled the Florentines after the flood of 1333, recalling the figure of Job. An examination of artworks produced in Tuscany between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries suggests that, alongside the dominant interpretation of disaster as the sinner’s just punishment, an alternative visual discourse presented Job as a model for the unfortunate victim, apparently unfairly hit by calamities and in need of social help, and one whose sufferings will be rewarded. Stefano D’Ovidio (Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte), Disasters and Wonder-Working Images: Examples from Naples and Surroundings Processions of cult images often served to invoke supernatural intervention against natural catastrophes both throughout the Christian world, as well as in different cultures and historical eras. This was particularly true in unstable seismic and volcanic regions, such as the Bay of Naples and the area surrounding Mount Vesuvius. Here, processions of statues and reliquary busts in the shape of local patron saints – the most famous being the bust of San Gennaro, patron saint of Naples – became especially popular after the great eruption of 1631. Rituals often involved ancient medieval wooden statues, whose cult had already emerged during the late Middle Ages, and in some cases processions were conducted not only in the wake of catastrophes, but also on a regular basis with a propitiatory purpose, such as in the ‘Festa della Lava’ still celebrated today in the town of San Giorgio a Cremano. What were the historical and ideological grounds for the adoption of a cult image as a defender from natural disasters? Given that most of these images were not originally created to enact miracles and grant protection to both the individual and the community, by what process did these images acquire a new meaning and function? The paper will address these questions by presenting two case studies: the Crucifix from Santa Maria a Piazza, Naples (13th century), and the Madonna di Pugliano, Ercolano (14th century). The former had proved particularly effective during the plague that devastated the city in 1656; the latter was believed to have stopped the lava from flowing beyond the boundaries of the village, thereby protecting the semi-rural community that had preserved the village for centuries. The use and function of these images during the late medieval and early modern period will be discussed through the aid of visual and textual sources that illuminate the special link that connected these objects to their respective communities. Chiara De Caprio (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II – Disaster Texts Project), Disaster Narratives in Early Modern Kingdom of Naples. Politics, Communication, and Culture From the late Renaissance onward, disasters were increasingly considered events worth remembering; likewise, they triggered a public hunger for information. This caused a rise in the production of accounts and narratives of catastrophic events, often directed to a vast audience; at the same time, exceptional events caused “ordinary people” to narrate them in petitions and pleas directed to political authorities, as well as in chronicles and narrative texts in verse. Both trends bring to light a process of narrativization of disasters. The project Disaster Texts. Literacy, Cultural Identity, Coping Strategies in Southern Italy between the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period aimed at investigating some crucial questions concerning the relationship between catastrophes and communication in Medieval and Renaissance Naples and Regno (comparisons with other Italian areas are not excluded): what kind of information did people receive about disasters and how did they cope with them? How did they form their perception of extreme events? How did they narrate disasters? Pasquale Palmieri (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, University of Texas at Austin – Disaster Texts Project), Disasters and the Cult of Saints in Naples (XVI-XVII centuries) Traumatic events may instigate a growth in “devotional demand” by strengthening the role of saints in society. Hagiography, in fact, offers extensive accounts of earthquakes, eruptions, floods, epidemics, invasions, bloody battles, and other disasters that may be ascribed to human or natural causes. This paper focuses on the hagiographic texts produced in Naples between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, paying particular attention to the works of Paolo Regio. The first noticeable signs of the Spanish decline become apparent during this chronological period; hence the “disaster” (in its broadest sense) becomes the catalyst of new political and religious alliances and encourages the construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction of social identities which are conveyed by the organizations of rites, ceremonies, processions, as well as networks of patronage, in support of old and new cults. Francesco Senatore (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II – Disaster Texts Project), The voice of the survivors. Petitions of rural communities in the Kingdom of Naples after the disease of 1478-80 This paper discusses unpublished primary sources produced by people and royal officers in the Kingdom of Naples (fifteenth century). Disasters usually appear in the administrative records in relation to tax payments. Individuals and communities presented pleas to the king and his financial officers in hopes of obtaining delays, or reductions of tax rates after natural and human disasters such as famines, earthquakes, wars, pillages. Which were their communicative and political strategies? How did they describe disasters? How did the kings and their officers react? Using the categories of the disaster studies (resilience, vulnerability), the paper focused on the disease 1478-80, thanks to a rare dossier of primary sources (fiscal registers, letters, petitions). Furthermore, the social and political effects of this disease are compared with the one of 1656-58. Rita Fresu (Università degli Studi di Cagliari – Disaster Texts Project), «Water Rushed Impetuously». Flooding in Early Modern Italian Treatises: Textual Configurations, Conceptual Models, and Linguistic Considerations This paper aims to draw attention to the language of Renaissance treatises about floods, starting with the analysis of some publications from the second half of the sixteenth century, written often only a few months after the extreme flooding of the Tiber river (diluvi). These documents represent a peculiar non-literary textual genre mostly composed by antiquarians. They vary from brief reports to long dissertations, structured in several parts, with the analysis of the causes of the phenomenon and the possible forecast, damages and consequences of overflows, as well as coping strategies. This type of text represents a valuable source of historical knowledge (in part for their chronological proximity to the event) that allows us to reconstruct patterns of perception and models of interpretation surrounding such a natural disaster. At the very end of the sixteenth century, the impact of the Tiber’s flows gained greater attention because of Rome’s urban development. From a historical-linguistic point of view, the texts considered here are situated in an important moment for the expansion and stabilization of structures in the Italian language in technical texts. The analysis, therefore, allows us to focus on formal methods and linguistic expedients through which a disaster is processed, narrated, represented, and can also offer a further contribution to the knowledge of specialized scientific language and – because of several references to buildings and monuments in the city – of art as well. Giancarlo Alfano (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II – Disaster Texts Project), Horror in Context: An Account of the 1656 Neapolitan Plague and its Cultural Matrix Three great events stand out in the story of the city of Naples during the seventeenth century: the earthquake (1631), Masaniello’s revolt (1648), and the plague (1656). Whilst differing widely from one another, these events were given a homogenous interpretation that connected these geological, political and biological phenomena in a unified sequence, and that imposed a strict conceptual opposition between legitimate and subversive driving forces. This paper aims to illustrate the ideological and cultural context from which a brief Neapolitan text emerged in 1668: A’ Posteri della peste di Napoli e suo Regno nell’Anno 1656 dalla Redentione del Mondo Racconto. By drawing a tight chronological link between the years 1631, 1647, and 1656 according to the dominant political perspective, the author situated his text within the official interpretive paradigm, while also applying an additional moral and allegorical filter to his reading of historical and natural phenomena that are seen as interconnected. Domenico Cecere (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II – Disaster Texts Project), Dreadful Stories. Calamities and Propaganda in Spanish Naples This paper focuses on political communication in the Kingdom of Naples during the seventeenth century and aims to explore the narrative techniques adopted in official reports to describe some major natural disasters that hit Southern Italy during that time. A large volume of reports and leaflets was printed with the encouragement of the Viceroy on the occasion of some violent earthquakes and eruptions; their intent was to demonstrate the commitment of secular and religious authorities to the battle against evil by painting the portrait of a government ready to look after the lives and needs of its subjects. This paper will attempt to illustrate the strategies adopted by the authorities to impose their own interpretation of extreme events through the promotion of texts, which were intended for large-scale circulation. Disaster Texts. Literacy, Cultural Identity, Coping Strategies in Southern Italy between the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period Project STAR 2013 – Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Principal Investigator: Chiara De Caprio Disasters, like few other collective experiences, trigger a public demand for information and explanations, which in turn fuels a proliferation of written accounts and narratives. In historical records, major calamities often assume epic roles, especially when their impact on the built environment is politically or symbolically significant. For this reason, several scholars have even considered this “communicative dimension” an essential feature of disasters, highlighting the role of media in turning an event into a disaster. The research project Disaster Texts. Literacy, Cultural Identity, Coping Strategies in Southern Italy aims to investigate some crucial questions concerning the relationship between catastrophes and communication in the Kingdom of Naples between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. What information did people receive about disasters and how did they cope with them? How did such information mediate their perception of extreme events? Most modern scholarship, based largely on accounts in travel diaries, has portrayed these people as victims of superstition, passive before the calamitous consequences of recurrent foreign invasions, and ultimately unable to cope with the natural hazards that struck Southern Italy at a relentless rate: plagues (1616-1622; 1656; 1743; 1764), violent earthquakes (e.g. 1456, 1638, 1688 and 1783), and the most violent eruptions of Vesuvius (e.g. 1631). Questioning the prevailing view of those subjected to such crises as resigned and powerless people, the project proceeds from a different hypothesis: natural and political disasters increased the exposure of ordinary people to the written word, paving the way to an increased familiarity with writing and reading, as well as with different types of texts in their various visual and oral forms. In states of emergency, “ordinary people” produced a diverse array of texts, ranging from pleas for help from public authorities, to intimate and emotional exchanges with private addressees. On the other hand, religious and political authorities were encouraged to control information and its modes of dissemination, in order to impose officially sanctioned interpretations of traumatic events. In different ways, both kinds of documents yield invaluable material for research in the humanities and the social sciences, because they reveal the richness of a world permeated by the circulation of conflicting beliefs and ideas about disasters, and testify to the reciprocal movement of words, metaphors, themes, images, and cultural practices between elite and popular culture. Disaster Texts thus intends to reconstruct a history of political communication, sensitive to the mutual connections between official information and rumours. The general aim of the project is to contribute to an interdisciplinary historical reconstruction of the different cultural resources that helped Europe cope with the material and moral concerns caused by disaster. To accomplish this, the members of the research team have undertaken a wide-ranging and multidisciplinary study of the representations of disasters through the collection, analysis, and editing of texts written and read by the popolo (ordinary people of middle status, between the aristocracy and illiterate masses), as a consequence of major disruptive events. The research project Disaster Texts brings together scholars from different disciplines: philology, Italian and Spanish literature, sociolinguistics, history. This research was carried out in the frame of Programme STAR, financially supported by the University of Naples Federico II and Compagnia di San Paolo. 

IDEAZIONE E ORGANIZZAZIONE Elisabetta Scirocco Chiara De Caprio Domenico Cecere Tanja Michalsky SEGRETERIA Via Gregoriana 28 00187 Roma www.biblhertz.it Raffaele Rossi rossi@biblhertz.it +39 06 69 993 257 Illustrazione: Nicolas Perrey, Stato del Monte Vesuvio doppo l’ultimo incendio de’ 16 di decembre 1631, in: Gianbernardino Giuliani, Trattato del Monte Vesuvio e de’ suoi incendi, in Napoli, appresso Egidio Longo, MDCXXXII Foto: Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte Disaster Texts Workshop internazionale 15–16 dicembre 2016 Villino Stroganoff Via Gregoriana 22 – 00187 Roma Giovedì 15 dicembre 11:00 Tanja Michalsky Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma Saluti Elisabetta Scirocco Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma Introduzione Rita Fresu Università degli Studi di Cagliari «L'acqua correva con tanto impeto». Le esondazioni nella trattatistica italiana della prima età moderna: configurazioni testuali, modelli concettuali, aspetti linguistici Pausa caffè 11:30 Modera Tanja Michalsky 16:30 Modera Francesco Gangemi Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma Philine Helas Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma La storia di Giobbe. Un’interpretazione diversa delle catastrofi nella pittura italiana del Tre e Quattrocento Giancarlo Alfano Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Orrore in contesto: un resoconto della peste napoletana del 1656 e la sua matrice culturale Stefano D’Ovidio Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma Disastri e immagini prodigiose: alcuni esempi a Napoli e in area vesuviana Chiara De Caprio Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II La narrazione del disastro nel Regno di Napoli tra tardo Medioevo ed età moderna. Piste di ricerca e risultati del progetto Disaster Texts. Literacy, Cultural Identity, Coping Strategies in Southern Italy between the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period Pausa pranzo Domenico Cecere Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Stupire e rassicurare. Catastrofi e comunicazione politica nella Napoli del XVII secolo Discussants Carmen Belmonte Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – MPI  Stephen Cummins MPI für Bildungsforschung, Forschungsgruppe Geschichte der Gefühle, Berlin  Emanuela Guidoboni Centro Euromediterraneo Eventi Estremi e Disastri, Bologna  Françoise Lavocat Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris III  Vinni Lucherini Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II  Gerrit Jasper Schenk Technische Universität Darmstadt  Gerhard Wolf Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – MPI 14:30 Modera Elisabetta Scirocco Riservato a Relatori e Discussants Pasquale Palmieri Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II University of Texas at Austin Venerdì 16 dicembre Disastri e culto dei santi a Napoli (XVI-XVII secolo) 9:30 Tavola rotonda Francesco Senatore Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II La voce di chi si è salvato. Suppliche di comunità rurali meridionali dopo la peste del 1478-80 Dirige e modera Xavier Barral i Altet Bibliotheca Hertziana – MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Roma  Università di Venezia Ca’ Foscari  Université de Rennes II