Andrea de Jorio’s Neapolitan Pride Project In his chapter
“L’Europe finit à Naples,” Nelson Moe devotes considerable space
to a discussion of writings on Naples, characterizing them as
swinging “between visions of Arcadia and the apocalypse” ,
between Europe and Africa. Between 1750 and 1885, Stendahl,
Renan, Sade, Staël, Dickens, Goethe, as well as many Italians
from the north and south, all weigh in on Naples, either
demonizing it for its alleged barbarity or glorifying its
picturesque quality. Andrea de Jorio came from an elite family
of the island of Procida and was Canon of the Cathedral of
Naples. His interest in gesture, archaeology, and Neapolitan
folklore developed during a period of strong philosophical
interest in gesture (Diderot and Condillac in mid 18th century
France, Engel in late 18th century Germany) and folkloristic-
archaeological inquiry into Naples. De Jorio wrote in an
atmosphere of support for archaeological research, support that
initiated in the Napoleonic period and continued with th