 Carlo Bonavia (Italian, active 1751–1788)
View of the Castel dell'Ovo, Naples, 1788
Oil on canvas
Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 1961 (2991.1)
This is the artist’s last painting and shows one of
Naples’s most iconic views. Bonavia likely painted this
work and others like it as souvenirs for aristocratic
English gentlemen on the Grand Tour, an educational
rite of passage meant to prepare them for political and
professional careers back in England. The Castel
dell’Ovo was a popular stop on the Grand Tour due to
its fantastical and ancient history. According to legend,
the Roman poet Virgil placed a magical egg in the
castle’s foundation to support its fortifications, of which
there were many from the building’s origin in the first
century B.C. Bonavia shows the scene as it appeared
in the 18th century and much as it appears today. |