Domenico Barbaja was a renowned and influential figure in Italian theatrical history. He served as the impresario of the royal theaters in Naples from 1810 to 1840, with brief interruptions. Additionally, he managed the Karntnerthor Theater and the Theater an der Wien from 1821 to 1828 and the Scala di Milano from 1826 to 1832. Barbaja was also instrumental in overseeing the reconstruction of the San Carlo theater after a devastating fire in 1816, which was designed by Antonio Niccolini. Furthermore, he was involved in the construction of the Church of San Francesco di Paola, which transformed the Largo di Palazzo into a grand piazza with an esedra, as per the design of Pietro Bianchi. At the Scala in Milan, he became wealthy by introducing gambling games, a practice he replicated in Naples during the French decade, helping to revitalize the Teatro Massimo by introducing the same method of revenue generation. However, his unorthodox management style allowed him to hire talented individuals while navigating the complexities of power dynamics in the royal theater world.