[ECOLE NAPOLITAINE] Napoli alla villa reale

Original anonymous watercolor representing the bay of Naples and the belvedere of Villa Reale , inscribed in the bottom margin: napoli alla villa Reale .
View of the belvedere of the gardens of Villa Reale Comunale , one of Naples' most important historical parks, which stretches over a kilometer. Built at the end of the 17th century, it was transformed into a real urban garden before undergoing enlargements in the Napoleonic era by architects Stefano Gasse and Paolo Ambrosino, who added paths and flower beds in the romantic style. The gardens, with the Place de la Victoire in the distance are here depicted as they were at the beginning of the XIXth century.
This type of Neapolitan watercolors was popular among wealthy European travelers, who carried out the traditional "Tour d'Italia", a pilgrimage through the bucolic landscapes and large cities of Italy. This watercolor was part of an amicorum album gathering views of lacustrine landscapes and port cities (Naples, Lake Como, Lake Maggiore ...) among engravings, lithographs, drawings, and washings made in the first quarter of the 19th century century.