**4. Conclusions**

The images of queen Joanna that have come down to us refer to a certain uniformity in the canons of the physiognomic definition that lead to suppose a desire for a truthful and realistic representation. Portrays today are placed, in particular, in the city of Naples and in the surrounding areas, inside and outside religious buildings and in lavishly illuminated manuscripts. All along the forty years of Joanna's reign, they demonstrate that the policy of propaganda through images developed two main themes: the claim of dynastic legitimacy (through genealogical representations and images of dynastic kings and family saints) and of the Christological assimilation (with King Louis IX of France as a prestigious political and cultural model). Such themes join the portraits in different contexts and show that both in the restricted and in the public spheres, the concern for a representation of power

according to these themes was crucial. It is therefore worth remembering that the portraits in the manuscripts and in the chapter house of Santa Chiara were destined to a (more or less) restricted court entourage; on the contrary, the appearance of the queen on the royal tombs and on the liturgical furnishings in the church of Santa Chiara represent "ideological manifestos" aimed at a wider public (always taking into account the effective possibility of access to specific places, such as the presbyterial area of churches, etc.)

If the royal garments (clothes that seem to be updated to the noble fashion trends of the time) and the attributes of power (the globe and the lily crown of the Angevin tradition) do not show elements of particular interest or innovation, more important from the iconographic point of view are the general contexts of the representations that shed light on the intentions and purposes of the representations themselves. The carved reliefs on the liturgical furnishings of Santa Chiara and the project of the Incoronata are examples of political propaganda as a whole, aiming to demonstrate the queen's belonging to a holy dynasty and her claim for the legitimate succession to the throne, but also her belonging to an international ruling class that shared common symbols and high-profile religious models that legitimized the local authorities.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Entry Link on the Encyclopedia Platform:** https://encyclopedia.pub/18055.
