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The research team

Didier Barra, View of the gulf of Naples and of The Phlegraean Fields, 1623 ca., detail on Mergellina

The two research units involved, belonging to the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (PI) and the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples, bring together the rich variety of skills necessary to study in depth the spread of Neapolitan villas between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 18th century, to analyse their characteristics, to restore the consistency of what has been lost or concealed and to bring back to the physical places in the contemporary city the site of the villa and any remains or traces. The compilation of a digital catalogue of the villas and its connection with the remains and the real places of the contemporary city requires the use of different methods of analysis and the combined contribution of various disciplines that the team brings together. The research activities are developed, in fact, by combining archival analysis, the collection of literary, periegetic and iconographic sources, historical investigation with the examination of architectural forms, the interpretation of urban development, art history, literature, the material analysis of historical buildings, topographical and ancient pre-existing structures studies and digital skills.

Unit 1

Maria Gabriella Pezone
Principal Investigator
Full professor
History of Architecture
UniCampania

Maria Gabriella Pezone, architect and PhD, teaches History of Medieval/Early Modern architecture at the Department of Arts and Cultural Heritage-DiLBeC, where she leads a multidisciplinary research group. Ordinary member of the Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, she is mainly concerned with southern architecture between the fifteenth and eighteenth century. Her works include: Carlo Buratti. Architettura tardo barocca tra Roma e Napoli (2008); Niccolò Carletti teorico (2013); Storia e architettura del Castello di Vico Equense (2020); Intorno a Capua nova. Ricerche tra antichità ed età moderna (ed. Pezone, 2022).

Giuseppe Pignatelli Spinazzola
Member of Unit 1
Associate Professor
History of Architecture
UniCampania

Giuseppe Pignatelli Spinazzola, architect and PhD, teaches History of the City at DiLBeC. His research and publications focus mainly on urban history between the fifteenth and the nineteenth century with particular reference to the city of Naples and the minor centers of the Kingdom, on the fortified architecture between the fifteenth and the eighteenth century and on the transformations of the landscape in the South of Italy between Early Modern and Contemporary Ages. Among his works: Napoli: tra il disfar delle mura e l’innalzamento del muro finanziere (2002); Come una città separata (2014).

Andrea Zezza
Member of Unit 1
Full Professor
History of Early Modern Art
UniCampania

Andrea Zezza teaches History of Early Modern art at DiLBeC, where he leads a multidisciplinary research group. He is mainly involved in Renaissance art and artistic literature. Among his publications: Vite de’ pittori scultori e architetti napoletani [Napoli 1742–1745] (ed. Zezza, with F. Sricchia Santoro, 2017); Arti e lettere a Napoli tra Cinque e Seicento. Studi su Matteo di Capua principe di Conca (ed. Zezza, 2020). He curated the exhibitions: Raffaello a Capodimonte, with A. Cerasuolo, Naples, 2021; Otro Renacimiento, with R. Naldi, Madrid, 2022-2023; Poesia e pittura nel Seicento. Giovan Battista Marino e la meravigliosa passione, with E. Russo and P. Tosini, Rome, 2024-2025.

Paola Carfora
Member of Unit 1
Associate Professor
Ancient Topography
UniCampania

Paola Carfora teaches Aerotopography and Ancient Monuments Survey at DiLBeC. She carries out topographic studies aimed at the reconstruction of ancient routes and the organization of territories and settlements connected to them, using traditional and innovative methodologies specific to the topographical discipline. In particular, she is dedicated to the development and application of non-invasive archaeological survey methods such as photointerpretation, targeted photogrammetry, remote sensing, Lidar, surveying and analysis of ancient monuments. Among her works: Carta archeologica e ricerche in Campania. Fascicolo 3 (2006); Carta Archeologica e ricerche in Campania. Il territorio di Roccarainola (2012).

Unit 2

Maria Teresa Como
Associate Investigator
Associate Professor
Architectural Conservation
UniSob

Maria Teresa Como, architect, specialist in Restoration, PhD in Archaeology, teaches at the Department of Humanities-DipSU History of Early Modern architecture, History of Restoration and Ancient Construction Techniques. Her research is mainly addressed to the critical analysis of historical architecture – from the Ancient Age to the 20th century – in investigating aspects of form and construction and reading phases and building processes, also in order to recognize characteristics and identities on which to orient conservation and restoration. Among her works: L’Architettura delle tholoi micenee. Aspetti costruttivi e statici (2007); La Sala degli Angeli nel complesso conventuale di Suor Orsola Benincasa (2020).

Gianluca Genovese
Member of Unit 2
Full Professor
Italian Literature
UniSob

Gianluca Genovese teaches Italian Literature at DipSU. He coordinates the Digital transition for heritage curriculum of the national Doctorate in Heritage science; he is a member of the Accademia Pontaniana. Among his books: La lettera oltre il genere (2009); Le vie del Furioso (2017); Letteratura e arti visive nel Rinascimento, with A. Torre (2019); Rinascimento digitale, with E. Russo (2021). For the national edition of the works of Benedetto Croce he edited the critical edition of the Poeti e scrittori del pieno e del tardo Rinascimento (2022).

Roberta Presta
Member of Unit 2
Fixed-term Researcher
Information Processing Systems
UniSob

Roberta Presta, engineer, PhD in Computer and automatic engineering and PhD in Humanities and technologies, works as a researcher in the field of human-machine interaction. She works at the interdepartmental research and project design Scienza Nuova Center of the same university, where she coordinates and deals with projects related to design, development and evaluation of interactive systems from an ergonomic and human factors point of view in different application domains.

Stefano De Mieri
Member of Unit 2
Fixed-term Researcher
History of Early Modern Art
UniSob

Stefano De Mieri is a History of Early Modern Art researcher at DipSU. His research is mainly focused on art in Naples and in central-southern Italy from the fifteenth to eighteenth century, with particular reference to the artistic production of the Counter-Reformation. In recent years his interests have also been directed towards art literature and collecting. Among his books: Girolamo Imperato nella pittura napoletana tra ‘500 e ‘600 (2009); Intagliatori incisori scultori sodalizi e società nella Napoli dei viceré. Ritorno all’Annunziata, with L. Gaeta (2015); Il Museo della Fondazione Pagliara. Storia di una raccolta d’arte, dalla ‘tradizione’ alle tecnologie digitali (2024).

Research fellows and PhD students

Angela Michela Convertini
Nea_Via Research Fellow
History of Architecture
UniCampania

Angela Michela Convertini is a research fellow of the PRIN PNRR 2022 Nea_Via at DiLBeC. Graduated in Architecture at the University of Rome Sapienza, where she also obtained the title of PhD in History, design and restoration of architecture, she was concerned with some of the protagonists of the late roman Baroque, from Ferdinando Fuga to Carlo Marchionni. Among her publications: Il palazzo nella basilica. Il fronte meridionale di Santa Maria Maggiore dal progetto di Paolo V Borghese all’intervento di Ferdinando Fuga (2021).

Angela Pecorario Martucci
Nea_Via Research Fellow
History of Architecture
UniCampania

Angela Pecorario Martucci, architect, PhD in Environment, design and innovation, is a research fellow of the PRIN PNRR 2022 Nea_Via at DiLBeC. Among her publications: Autarchy and Tradition in the Architecture during Italy’s Fascist Period: newly founded cities (2019); Il percorso di Gaetano Vinaccia all’interno dell’Associazione Artistica fra i Cultori di Architettura e l’oscillante rapporto con Gustavo Giovannoni (2022); Dal vernacolare al moderno e ritorno: il tema dell’architettura rurale nel dibattito e nelle sperimentazioni del Novecento, with C. Lenza (2024).

Lucia Giorgi
PhD Student
History of Architecture
UniCampania

Lucia Giorgi, architect, art historian specialized in Ecclesiastical archival and library studies, is a teacher of History of Art since 1993 and a History of Architecture PhD student in the Doctorate in History and transmission of cultural heritages at DiLBeC. Among her publications: Caserta e gli Acquaviva. Storia di una corte dal 1509 al 1634 (2004); Dosio a Caserta (1601-1611). Gli ultimi dieci anni al servizio del principe Andrea Matteo Acquaviva d’Aragona (2011); Architetti, artisti e maestranze nel cantiere dell’Annunziata di Capua tra Cinque e primo Settecento (ed. Pezone 2022).

Pasqualina Uccello
PhD Student
History of Architecture
UniCampania

Pasqualina Uccello is a History of Architecture PhD student in the Doctorate in History and transmission of cultural heritages at DiLBeC. Specialized in the Conservation of archival and books assets, winner of the MiBACT 2016 competition, she works as a Librarian officer at the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli and since 2019 as Promotion and communication officer at the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte. Among her publications: L’anormale normalità. Prospettive e pratiche di didattica inclusiva del Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte (2023); Architettura e potere. I Siti reali e il linguaggio architettonico della corte borbonica del XVIII secolo (in print).

Simona Landi
PhD Student
History of Architecture
UniCampania

Simona Landi graduated with honors in 2020 in Design and communication with a thesis on the restoration of the abbey of Santa Maria de’ Olearia in Maiori. In 2022 she is a trainee at the archaeological museum of Sarno, where she creates 3D of some ancient roman finds. In 2023 she graduated with honors in History of Art with a thesis in History of Architecture on the villa Altomare at Vomero. Currently, she is a History of Architecture PhD student in the Doctorate in History and transmission of cultural heritages at DiLBeC.