44
Ignoto pittore vedutista attivo a Napoli nel XVIII secolo
La Villa di Poggioreale
oil on copper
cm 20x35
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The painting is a rare and unpublished document that tells us with meticulous refinement of details the image of the so-called Poggio Reale which acquired its sumptuous and magnificent structure following the construction in 1487 of the splendid villa of the Duke of Calabria Alfonso of Aragon, future King Alfonso II, by Giuliano da Maiano, a Florentine architect.
Of the Villa that we identify on the right at the bottom of the view, little or nothing is precisely known about its transformations over the centuries, and there is very little iconographic information, while it has always remained in the imagination of the history of the city of Naples, as a magical and fabulous suburban royal residence, place of delight and hunting lodge, maximum triumph of the most dignified Neapolitan Renaissance, among courtyards, loggias, fish ponds and water features in a complex scenic spectacularity that with woods and gardens ran up to Porta Capuana and the sea .
The famous painting portrays the building of the Villa, the work of V.Codazzi and D.Gargiulo, who immortalize it in its moment of maximum splendor.
The avenue as we see it represented, with its rich layout of trees and fountains, is instead due to the intervention in 1604 of the viceroy Pimentel de Herrera.
The composition of our painting is almost faithfully reported in the drawing by Domenico Antonio Parrino of 1718 dedicated to the Most Excellent Mr. D. Nicolò Maria Caracciolo, Duke of Girifalco.
The absolute first patina is interesting.
On the back, stamps of provenance and cataloging from an ancient and historic Roman collection.