Good morning everyone! After a long holiday break we return to propose a new post, once again dedicated to an accessible attraction of our Naples.
We are talking about the exhibition Naples at the time of Napoleon. Rebell and the light of the Gulf, held at the Naples branch of the Gallerie d'Italia (*); the contents of the exhibition, which will close on April 07 2024, are effectively illustrated in this introductory text which we take from the Galleries' website:
The exhibition Naples at the time of Napoleon. Rebell and the light of the Gulf renders the atmosphere and image of the city in the years from 1808 to 1815, in which Joachim Murat and his wife Carolina Bonaparte, the youngest of Napoleon's three sisters, were the much loved rulers of Naples.
It was a period of progress and renewed splendor for the Kingdom, marked by extraordinary social, economic and urban transformations and by particular attention to the territory. The culture of the Murat couple and their modern taste formed in Paris gave a great impulse to the arts, dividing their time between the official palaces of Naples and Caserta and the favorite private residence of Portici.
Patrons of great figure painters, Joachim and especially Carolina demonstrated a particular sensitivity for views and landscape painting, calling French masters of the genre to their court. Particular protection was reserved for the Viennese Joseph Rebell, protagonist of this exhibition alongside other specialists in landscape painting; the artist stayed in Italy on several occasions between 1812 and 1824 and particularly in Naples.
The views of the city, its gulf and the magnificent surroundings represented his favorite subjects even after his departure from Naples in 1815, fueling in Europe the myth of the uniqueness of that enchanted territory, celebrated by the painters of the Grand Tour.
His training and his affirmation are recalled and placed against the backdrop of the cosmopolitan Neapolitan panorama between the end of the eighteenth century and the second decade of the nineteenth century, marked by numerous personalities of travelers and landscape painters who profoundly renewed the vision of reality.
The protagonist of the exhibition is also the Murat family itself, whose important role in those years is to be demonstrated with the presence of numerous portraits, paintings and sculptures.
So let's see these splendid views of Naples and its surroundings, rendered so well by this Viennese painter, Joseph Rebell, and his colleagues of other nationalities present in Naples in that same period:
Now take a look at some of the 26 sheets of figure studies that Rebell created on graphite and sepia paper while going around Naples and observing the various types of people he met:
And now here are some works by the other landscape artists present in the exhibition, preceded however by the portraits of the Royal Highnesses Joachim Murat, his wife Carolina and their daughter Letizia:
What do you think? Do they look like fantasy landscapes? Certainly observing these paintings from two hundred years ago, for those of us who have frequented these places since we were children, makes a certain impression and requires a considerable effort to identify some stretch of coast or some known building. In reminding you that on the ground floor of the Gallerie d'Italia there is also Luminist (*), an excellent bistro, we greet you with some works of contemporary art, recently acquired by the Galleries: (*) symbol indicating the presence of toilets equipped for disabled people
