International Symposium - Naples at Compton Verney (2015)

The international symposium Naples at Compton Verney was held at the museum on 17 June 2015. It was organised by Professor Helen Hills (University of York).

Compton Verney holds one of the richest collections of Neapolitan art in the world outside Naples, but it is little known and little studied.  This symposium turned the spotlight of scholarship onto the collection in relation to important new research on Naples focused on issues of colonialism within Europe, skin and surfaces, and telluric philosophy.

Professor Hills gave a paper entitled ‘Breathing Fire: Vesuvius, Miraculous Blood and Neapolitan Baroque Architecture’ and York PhD student Bogdan Cornea  spoke on ‘Surface of Violence in Jusepe de Ribera’s Martyrdoms of Saint Bartholomew’. 

Papers were also presented by: Dr Joris van Gastel (University of Hamburg), Letizia Treves (The National Gallery), Dr Helena Hammond (Roehampton University), Josephine Neil (King's College London), and Dr Paola Vitolo (University of Catania). See the full programme for details.

As part of the day’s programme, gallery visits were conducted by PhD students from within the WRoCAH (White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities).