Lot 43: Tommaso Ruiz (active Naples mid 18th Century) Naples from the Castel dell'Ovo

Naples from the Castel dell'Ovo with the Riviera di Chiaia and Posillipo beyond
signed 'Tomaso Ruiz F.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
44.6 x 129.5cm (17 9/16 x 51in).

PROVENANCE:
With The Parker Gallery, London (according to a label on the reverse)
Sale, Phillips, London, 31 March, 1992, lot 104
Sale, Porro, Milan, 26 March, 2004, lot 49

The present view was clearly a popular one as Ruiz is known to have painted it many times. More often than not, it formed one of a pair such as those, dated 1750, offered in the Hardy Sale, Christie's London, 22 January, 1954, lot 66, with its pendant depicting the view of Naples from the hill of Posillipo, with Vesuvius in the background. A drawing attributed to Ruiz of the Torretta and the hill of Posillipo is now in the Società Napoletana di Storia Patria, Naples (see M. Causa Picone, Disegni napoletani del Settecento (Naples, 1981), pp. 114-116, fig. 51).

In this view, Ruiz offers a slightly simplified view of the Riviera di Chiaia, as compared with other works by his contemporaries, such as Gabriele Ricciardelli. The street had recently been transformed as part of the programme of changes throughout the city instigated by Viceroy Luis de la Cerda, Duke of Medina Coeli, famous for calling Gaspar van Wittel, il Vanvitelli, to Naples. The various fountains dotted along the road formed part of this redevelopment. The view then follows the bay around to the headland of Posillipo dotted with the villas of the nobility, taking in the churches of Piedigrotta and Sant'Antonio, recognisable by the distinctive zig-zag road leading up to it.