11801 Napoli Duomo c. 1893 - 1903

Giorgio Sommer made this photograph of the interior of Naples Cathedral, probably sometime in the 1860s. Sommer’s image invites us to consider the role of religious institutions in 19th-century Europe. The Duomo was the most important church in a city that remained the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until 1860, when it was incorporated into the new Kingdom of Italy. Sommer’s image reminds us that the Duomo was the spiritual center of a society dominated by the aristocracy, whose wealth and power was reinforced by the Church. Sommer carefully composes his photograph to emphasize the Duomo’s grand scale and elaborate decoration, and its intended effect on visitors. Historians of art use sources such as architectural plans, church records, and social histories of the period, to better understand the relation between art and society.