A View of Naples and the Bay with Vesuvius beyond, seen from the North

Gabriele Ricciardelli (fl.1741 - d.1777). Oil painting on canvas, A View of Naples and the Bay with Vesuvius beyond, seen from the North by Gabriele Ricciardelli (fl.1741-d.1777), 1747. One of four views of Naples. Figures along the beach curving to the foreground. Small boats are in the bay and figures are with small boats at the waters edge below a high wall. 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 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)