Lot 193: William Parrott (1813-1869)

Naples from near Virgil's Tomb
indistinctly signed and inscribed 'No.2 Naples from Virgil's tomb W Parrott 68 Mortimer Street' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
25 1/8 x 50 3/4 in. (63.8 x 129 cm.)

London, Royal Academy, 1853, no. 1085.

Parrott's views of the Mediterranean are instantly recognisable for their topographical accuracy and joyful sense of colour, combined with an eye for humorous incidental detail. He exhibited several views of Naples at the Royal Academy between 1846 and 1863, but the present picture is amongst his most successful. (His other Royal Academy exhibit from 1853, (no. 1287), entitled A Fair in the Champs Elysée, sold at Christie's London, 12 June 2002, lot 12 (£124,750)).

With its commanding view of the city and Bay of Naples, stretching to Vesuvius, gently smoking in the distance, the promontory near Virgil's tomb was a favourite of artists and milordi undertaking the Grand Tour. Reputed to have been the final resting place of the poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid, and subseqently Dante's guide through Hell and Purgatory in the Divina Commedia, his tomb became the object of pilgrimages and pagan veneration. The Chiesa della Santa Maria di Piedigrotta was subsequently erected by Church authorities to neutralise this pagan adoration and 'Christianise' the site.

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