The Neapolitan Collection of Giuseppe Valletta: Art, Artefacts, and their Epistemic Functions at the Crossroads of Knowledge around 1700

Şirin Luisa Datli

My dissertation focuses on the collection of the Neapolitan Giuseppe Valletta (1636–1714) – a collection that included paintings, antique vases, and an extensive library and that attracted scholars from all over Europe. I am particularly interested in the epistemological functions that the artworks and artefacts in his collection had in a cultural context characterised by the international exchange of ideas and knowledge. My holistic approach entails a close examination of the objects, reflecting on the intellectual network in which they were embedded and on Naples as a place of knowledge that was characterised by both its geographical location and its socio-cultural context. My project revolves around the following central questions: To what extent do images and artefacts with their specific medial qualities contribute to the culture of knowledge in Naples? How is the collection used as a space and as a medium for the production and dissemination of knowledge? And in what way does the taste of an erudite collector develop in this environment?