Pietro Giannone (1676-1748), Italian historian. Giannone was born at Ischitella in the south-east of Italy. At the age of 18 he went to Naples to study law. However, he spent twenty years writing his major work, the History of the Kingdom of Naples. In this he highlighted the strength of Neapolitan laws and government, especially their resistance to the rule of the Catholic Church. The Church responded by excommunicating him. Giannone fled first to Vienna, then to Venice, Turin and ultimately Geneva. There he was lured into Sardinian territory and was imprisoned in Turin. He spent the last twelve years of his life in jail. This engraving comes from a 1753 edition of the History of the Kingdom of Naples.