Cloister of the Certosa di San Martino, Naples 1772 - 1782

Louis Jean Desprez made this watercolor and graphite drawing of the Cloister of the Certosa di San Martino in Naples sometime in the late 18th century. Religious institutions like this monastery were not only places of worship but also significant landowners and centers of power. Desprez's image is full of visual codes. Note the imposing architecture, symmetrical design, and the monk in the foreground, dwarfed by the scale of the cloister. In 18th-century Italy, the Church wielded considerable influence. The architecture and artwork it commissioned often served to project power and authority. The orderly design may reflect the desire for social control and the suppression of individual expression. Understanding this drawing requires us to consider the institutional history of the Church, its economic power, and its role in shaping social norms. By researching such things, we can better understand the complex interplay between art, power, and society in 18th-century Naples.