Nobili ‘genovesi’ nel Regno di Napoli. Michele IV Imperiale (1719-1782) principe di Francavilla tra gusto per l’antico e cultura figurativa veneta

The first edition (1771) of the Deliciae tarantine, poem wich describes the city of Taranto, is dedicated to the Genoese Michele IV Imperiale (1719-1782). This concrete evidence from the Baroque Taranto opens this research on the relationships between the Apulian region and the Genoese Republic, through the Neapoltian hub and with a constant interest for Venetian figurative arts. Michele Imperiale, settled in Naples, but honoured by an Apulian aristocracy title (prince of Francavilla), owned the Cellamare palace where there was even one version of the Supper in the House of Simon Pharisee by Veronese, derived from the version depicted for the Santi Nazario e Celso monastery in Verona (1556), later documented in the Balbi-Durazzo palace in Genoa (1737). Imperiale’s strategies are similar to those of other Genoese noblemen (Ardizzone, Sauli, Doria, Giustiniani, Grimaldi, De Mari) who promoted an impressive feudal spread in the Kingdom of Naples.