Alessandro d'Anna, Italian 1746-1810- Veduta di Pozzuoli da Occidente; bodycolour...

Alessandro d'Anna,
Italian 1746-1810-

Veduta di Pozzuoli da Occidente;

bodycolour on paper, signed 'Alessandro d'Anna' (lower right), inscribed with title (lower centre), 41 x 59 cm.

Provenance:
Private Collection, UK.

Note:
The present work is one of d'Anna's more extensive Neapolitan topographical vistas, with the artist also celebrated for his colourful depictions of popular life in and around the city. One of the first records of his activity as an artist is in the 1779 publication of Gaetano De Bottis's 'Ragionamento Istorico intorno all'eruzione del Vesuvio che comincio' il 29 luglio dell'anno 1779 e continuo' fino al giorno 15 del seguente mese di agosto', in which the text is accompanied by engravings by various artists including two views of the erupting Vesuvius by d'Anna. In December 1782, Ferdinando IV of Naples commissioned both d'Anna and Saverio Della Gatta (Naples 1777-1829) to make a systematic study of the costumes of the various provinces of the realm to eventually be used by the porcelain factory at Capodimonte. A Neapolitan pair of bodycolours by the artist, of similar dimensions, sold at Bonhams, Los Angeles, 8 December 2015, lot 1335 ($15,000).