Articles
Pair of Neapolitan gouaches* representing an animated view of characters from the Forum of Pompeii for one; and a view of the Strada dei Sepulcri (Road of the Tombs) for the other; with Vesuvius in the background for each landscape, from the late 19th century.
These gouaches are in good general condition. They are in their frames and have their original windows. Unsigned.
Note: some scratches and wear from time, look carefully at the photos.
* Neapolitan gouaches aroused the interest of tourists in the 18th and 19th centuries, eager to return home with images and souvenirs of their trip. Gouache remained the prerogative of Naples, one of the most important cities in Europe under the Bourbons and which was obligatorily included in the itinerary of the Grand Tour of Italy, a journey complementary to the studies carried out by all distinguished Europeans. Most of the time anonymous and small in size to facilitate transport, these so-called minor works, produced in an artisanal manner, have been the delight of generations of tourists. Vesuvius by day or night, in eruption and the Bay of Naples are the themes we find most often. Those which deal with Vesuvius in eruption were often framed with a black margin where the artist indicated the year and day of the eruption represented. Many painters have devoted themselves to this pictorial genre. The production of Neapolitan gouaches lasted more than a century, until the appearance of new techniques such as the reproduction of engravings, from 1840, and photography. (According to Regard antiquaire).
** Mount Vesuvius is an Italian volcano with a height of 1,281 meters, bordering the Bay of Naples, to the east of the city. It is the only volcano in continental Europe to have erupted in the last hundred years, although it is currently dormant; its last eruption dates from 1944. It is at the origin of the destruction of the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabies, buried on August 24, 79 under a rain of ashes and mud. It has erupted many other times over the past millennia and is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world due to its explosive tendency and especially the large population that lives near it.
