View of the Gulf of Pozzuoli from Solfatara

Attracted to its dramatic vistas, volcanoes, exotic peasants, and classical ruins, landscape painters of the 1700s and 1800s flocked to the countryside around Naples. This view looks west toward the Gulf of Pozzuoli from just above the Solfatara, an area of volcanic steam vents. The ancient town of Pozzuoli, where the apostle Paul landed on his way to Rome, lies in the distance. Hackert's attention to detail and rendering of form with extreme lucidity is characteristic of German Romantic painting.