During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the viceregal court of Naples was a splendid backdrop for the representation of the imperial power of the Habsburgs. Festivities and ceremonies glorified the role of Spanish kings and viceroys, who promoted their cultural policy by establishing academies and encouraging artistic, literary, musical and theatrical production.

This book compiles the papers presented at the international symposium organised on this subject by the Instituto Cervantes in Naples and the Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica, which brought together the leading scholars specialised in the practices and meaning of those public celebrations in the biggest capital city of the Empire.

Giuseppe Galasso (1929–2018) was professor emeritus of the University of Naples Federico II, a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, and a corresponding member of the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid. He was a member of the Italian parliament and, as undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, promoted the Galasso Law on landscape protection. He was editor-in-chief of important journals and the monumental Storia d’Italia published by UTET, and his most recent publications include Storia del Regno di Napoli (5 vols., Turin, 2007–8), Prima lezione di storia moderna (2008), and Storici italiani del Novecento (2008).

José Vicente Quirante holds a degree in Law and Philosophy from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. He directed the Instituto Cervantes in Naples between 2005 and 2010 and has been appointed director of programmes of the Casa del Lector – Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez. He is the author of Nápoles española (2010) and cofounder of the publishing company Editorial Parténope.

José Luis Colomer holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Bologna and a degree in Art History from the Sorbonne. He currently directs the Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica and the Center for Spain in America. His research addresses cultural relations between Spain and Italy in the seventeenth century through diplomatic agents and the exchange of gifts of artworks between the European courts and Spanish kings and queens, as well as Velázquez’s second journey to Rome and his connections with prominent Italians at the court of Madrid.