Neapolitan School Grotta d'Amalfi

An original early 19th-century gouache painting, Neapolitan School, Grotta d'Amalfi.

A dramatic moonlit veduta near the Capuchin convent at the coastal village of Amalfi on the Gulf of Salerno, south of Naples. A monk is seen kneeling beside the cross in the foreground, whilst the view beyond is framed by the arched cave-like grotto.

The bold, opaque colouration is typical of the vedute style that flourished in Naples during this period to meet demand from wealthy Grand Tourists for souvenirs of the city. The anonymous artists of the Neapolitan School employed specific motifs and colours which today can be considered a unique, iconic visual language.

Such paintings were typically small, but this example is larger and more impressive than average. Due to its preservation in an album, the colours and paint surface remain arrestingly vivid and crisp.

On thin wove paper laid down on backing paper.