FROM SOCIAL VIRTUE TO REVETTED INTERIOR: GIOVANNI ANTONIO DOSIO AND MARBLE INLAY IN ROME, FLORENCE, AND NAPLES

The present article examines the work of Giovanni Antonio Dosio – a Tuscan‐born architect of the late sixteenth century – for patrons in the cities of Rome, Florence and Naples, approaching these projects as part of the socio‐artistic practice of displaying magnificence. The article considers the means by which the magnificent work sought to impress, and explores the range of messages that were communicated and evoked by the magnificent act. Dosio's Neapolitan projects shared the complex associations and claims of his work in Rome and Florence, but responded to the unique set of demographic, political and religious circumstances experienced by southern Italy and its capital city. Ultimately, Dosio's projects in Naples aimed at the most universal of claims: vehemently proclaiming Christian piety in the face of Ottoman incursions in the eastern Mediterranean, and laying claim to the worldwide reach of the Roman church which, operating in concert with Spanish imperial interests, extended to the Americas and beyond.