ALESSANDRO LA VOLPE Lucera, 1820 - Rome, 1887 Neapolitan navy with Vesuvius eruption in the background Signed A La Volpe and dated 1869 lower right Oil on canvas, 53X105.5 cm Provenance: Lombardy, private collection The artist trained in Naples at the Reale Istituto di Belle Arti (Royal Institute of Fine Arts) with Salvatore Fergola, influenced by the painting of Pitloo and Giacinto Gigante especially in his en plein air works. From the beginning of his career, La Volpe devoted himself to painting the places idealised by foreigners: the Gulf of Naples, the Amalfi coast, Ischia, Capri, Paestum and Pompeii. The quality of these views, strongly influenced by 18th-century optics reminiscent of the Grand Tour, earned him the honour of being chosen to accompany Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg to Sicily and Egypt in the winter of 1851 (Napier, p. 85) and during the expedition he made several studies from life that reveal his skill in capturing the effects of light. Reference bibliography: F Napier, Notes on modern paintings at Naples, London 1855 ad vocem D Morelli, E Dalbono, La scuola napoletana di pittura nel secolo decimonono, Bari 1915 ad vocem I Valente, Dal Vero. Il Paesaggio Napoletano da Gigante a De Nittis, Turin 2002 ad vocem