About the Viceroyalty between the Seventies and the Nineteenth Centuries: Enthusiasmós, Leisures and Crafts from Naples to Abruzzo

Abstract

Between the end of the Eighteenth Century and the first half of the Nineteenth, musical themes, dance and an explicit vitality populated most of the genre scenes regarding the Kingdom of Naples’ territories. The artists described enchanting places where almost everything seemed to be allowed. These motifs were often associated to images representing some capital’s squares or suburbs. These recurring subjets were differently interpreted in the various provinces of the Kingdom. Among the Neapolitan districts, the Abruzzo region was characterized by certain adverse conditions of his territory, marked by numerous earthquakes, and a special position between the sea and the mountains. For all these reasons, this place was included among the Grand Tour’s destinations: the travel reports emphasize an environment in which the folkloric episodes were marginal compared to the rural and naturalistic aspects. These contents are reflected inside the iconographic representations. Differently from events in Naples and some other Viceregal provinces, in Abruzzo places popular music occasions are often separated from every element associated to simple fun or licentiousness. Here rest moments and occasions related to wine had defined times and spaces. Although, in some cases, in the depicted subjects we can perceive a shy pulse toward joyful, all these themes are more often compared to the motives of work and rest, and therefore rather far from the contemporary Neapolitan idylls. During all these occurences, a particular importance was assigned to guitars, tamburines or other small rythmical instruments and, especially, to the violins. The comparison between the Neapolitan popular costumes and those of the Abruzzo province aims to better define some aspects related to the interactions between the Kingdom of Naples and the Viceroyalty domains in the last phase of the Modern Age.