A View of the Bay of Naples from San Martino (the Vomero) with a Fleet...

Gabriele Ricciardelli (fl.1741 - d.1777). Oil painting on canvas, A View of the Bay of Naples from San Martino with a Fleet at Anchor, Vesuvius beyond and the Palazzo di Capodimonte to the left by Gabriele Ricciardelli (fl.1741 - d.1777), 1747. On the hillside in the foreground are several figures. A lady and two gentlemen are seated on a stone plinth drinking wine and with food spread out. The stone is inscribed with the artist's name and date: GABRIEL RICCIARDELLI. P. / MDCCXLVII. Little is known of Ricciardelli, but he was able to take advantage of the vogue for Neopolitan views to produce many pictures for vistors on the Grand Tour. The Harpurs, however, do not seem to have acquired these on their Continental expedition; Isabel Harpur Crewe states that they were 'bought, I believe, by Sir Henry [Harpur] Crewe out of an inn at Leicester'. The English form of his Christian name in his signatures suggests that Ricciardelli was in England when these pictures were painted. Calke Abbey, Derbyshire (Accredited Museum)