Vesuvius in Art

After his conquest of Naples in 1734, Charles of Bourbon ruled the Kingdom and elevated the city of Naples. He knew that a kingdom had to rely on identifiable cultural symbols, such as Mount Vesuvius.

Vesuvius always made Naples' landscapes attractive and distinguishable for those within and outside the Kingdom. The French painter Pierre Jacques Volaire chose to depict an eruption at its climax.

Large topographic points of view are what characterized the 'vedute' - a new way of painting landscapes in the 18th century. This is the solemn moment of Charles' departure for Spain, painted by Antonio Joli.

As a member of the Neapolitan "Posillipo School", Giacinto Gigante sought to capture many of Naples' landscapes. In the 19th century, the romantic admiration for ancient ruins attracted artists to depict Pompeii.

Vesuvius became a pictorial subject where artists could observe the variations of light throughout the day, similar to the French painter Paul Cézanne's studies of Mount Sainte-Victoire at the end of the 19th century.

Gioacchino Toma represented Vesuvius at different moments of the day. Thick strokes of paint and energetic colors illustrate the artist's further association with the Macchiaioli.

The Macchiaioli were a group of painters primarily from Tuscany that formed during the years of Italian Unification in the second half of the 19th century. In an anti-academic manner, they studied and captured the vitality of the Italian landscape.