PIETRO CONTE Active in the 19th century View of the Gaeta Mola Signed Pietro Conte fec dated 841 lower right Oil on canvas, 90X122 cm Provenance: Rome, Giosi collection Our painting could be identified with the work presented at the Bourbon Exhibitions in Naples, held between 1826 and 1859, and registered in the 1841 edition with the number 157, as documented in the Catalogue of Fine Arts in the Royal Bourbon Museum. The work depicts a panoramic view of the Mola di Gaeta coastline, taken from an elevated point, probably from the western slope looking towards the town of Gaeta. In the foreground is a scene of daily life: some shepherds and peasants with grazing animals. In the centre of the composition stands the Torre di Mola (Mola Tower), recognisable by its massive cylindrical shape, while a few white houses with red tile roofs stretch out next to it. Further on, the landscape opens out into a wide expanse of sea, rendered in muted shades of blue and mother-of-pearl, on which small sails billowing in the wind float. In the background, in the distance, the tip of Gaeta stands out against the light, enveloped in a golden luminosity typical of the Mediterranean light. The sky, wide and transparent, occupies a large part of the canvas: light clouds dissolve and the warm sunlight filters through, creating rosy reflections on the landscape.