Palimpsest Naples. Natural Disasters

The goal of the research area Palimpsest Naples is to identify and understand the stratification of Naples. The video illustrates that this complex stratification is not only based on social development and urban planning, but has also been significantly shaped by various natural disasters.

What was the impact of natural disasters, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, on the city's identity, art, architecture, and urban development? The video transports us directly to Naples (and its surroundings) and, drawing on impressive, large-scale historical maps and illustrations from antique books, illustrates the methodological approach for the study of the city's historical and artistic development. Contemporary footage of the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, which dramatically illustrates the damage recent natural disasters have done to Naples’ urban space, is paired with an art-historical commentary that explains their broader role in the formation of the city's monumental, artistic, and collective identity from the Middle Ages to the present.

With contributions by: Tanja Michalsky; Elisabetta Scirocco