Gaetano Dura Ritorno da Montevergine

Souvenir of Naples: Early-19th-century Paintings, Drawings & Prints

This picture forms part of a superb group of works that were collected by a British Grand Tour traveller in Naples in the mid-19th century. The collection includes impressive Neapolitan School gouache vedute depicting iconic local sites, and also meticulous renderings of the decorative frescoes at Pompeii. There are also a number of hand-coloured lithographs by Gaetano Dura, who specialised in popular prints describing the every-day life of Naples. In addition to works by local artists, the collection features a small number of topographical pictures by British hands.

Naples and Pompeii were often the southerly apotheosis of a European Grand Tour—it being relatively easy to arrange transport on a British ship back to England from Naples. The events at Pompeii and the smoking silhouette of Vesuvius that dominated the Bay of Naples were a unique draw for the traveller and the Romantic imagination. In contrast to the civic sites at Rome—all testaments to imperial power—the monuments at Pompeii were testaments to everyday life and the volcanic power of Vesuvius inspired personal awe and horror. The resulting experience for the traveller was therefore one of heightened authenticity and emotion. Such an experience warranted unique mementoes, and souvenirs were voraciously collected by the Victorian traveller. Pictorial representations of the key sites painted by local artists, to be taken home and shared with others, served as concrete reminders of this emotional engagement.