19th Century Views Of Pompeii Paintings Tempera On Paper By Fergola

Francesco Fergola (Naples, 1801 - there, 1875)

Pair of Views of Pompeii

Tempera on paper, 33 x 48 cm

Frame 49 x 64 cm

The two views in question are signed by Francesco Fergola, a painter, known for his work as a landscape painter, born in Naples in 1801, since, in the act of death in 1875, he is said to be seventy-four. Son of the painter Luigi and brother of Salvatore, he is not to be confused with his nephew of the same name, also a painter, and his brother, also with the same name, an internationally renowned engineer and geographer. His approach, original and particular, less influenced by the Posillipo school, compared to his brother appears more linked to the Hackertian way of his father.

Endowed with a documentary precision in the shooting of the places derived from the so-called "bird's eye view" by PJ Hackert, the first certain information on his artistic activity are linked to the Bourbon exhibitions starting from before 1826 where he appears as part of the " Royal Institute of Fine Arts "and exhibited two paintings, winning the third class silver medal. In 1830 he presented a tempera, View of Naples, and was awarded the second class silver medal; the painting can perhaps be identified with a tempera on paper, View of Naples from Capodichino (Naples, royal palace), signed and dated 1830. Francesco was also present at the Bourbon exhibition of 1835 with an Eruption of Vesuvius. The two subjects depicted here are of great charm and interest, the Forum of Pompeii and the Via dei Sepolcri, also in Pompeii. The forum represented the main square of the city of which it was the political, economic and religious fulcrum. The Roman forum of Pompeii dates back to the 2nd century BC but great works were carried out in the Augustan age. The choice of representing the forum with the view of Vesuvius in the center of the composition to dominate the city is very fascinating, thus capturing the remains of the great temple of Jupiter Capitoline, the main building of worship in the city, located on the north side of the ancient piazza, erected as early as 250 BC This view allows you to imagine how much wonder the grandeur of the forum and the monumentality of the temple, dominated by Vesuvius, must have aroused, all enriched by the charm of the ruins. Some visitors, painted with attention to detail and clothing, they enliven the composition, transferring the past into the present, depicting how much the ancient already struck contemporaries. In the other painting we find the Via dei Sepolcri depicted; as a Roman custom, the road leading out of the city was used as a funerary space, flanked by sepulchral monuments. The street was beautifully immortalized by the words of Alexandre Dumas taken from Corricolo "a road that offers at its extremity., Like a great arch through which one sees nothing but the sky, that door by which one went from the city of the dead to the city ??of the living; that one surrounds all this with silence, solitude, meditation, and one will have an idea, still very incomplete, of the marvelous aspect that the suburb of Pompeii presents ". depicting how the ancient already struck contemporaries. In the other painting we find the Via dei Sepolcri depicted; as a Roman custom, the road leading out of the city was used as a funerary space, flanked by sepulchral monuments. The street was beautifully immortalized by the words of Alexandre Dumas taken from Corricolo "a road that offers at its extremity., Like a great arch through which one sees nothing but the sky, that door by which one went from the city of the dead to the city ??of the living; that one surrounds all this with silence, solitude, meditation, and one will have an idea, still very incomplete, of the marvelous aspect that the suburb of Pompeii presents ". depicting how the ancient already struck contemporaries. In the other painting we find the Via dei Sepolcri depicted; as a Roman custom, the road leading out of the city was used as a funerary space, flanked by sepulchral monuments. The street was beautifully immortalized by the words of Alexandre Dumas taken from Corricolo "a road that offers at its extremity., Like a great arch through which one sees nothing but the sky, that door by which one went from the city of the dead to the city ??of the living; that one surrounds all this with silence, solitude, meditation, and one will have an idea, still very incomplete, of the marvelous aspect that the suburb of Pompeii presents ". another painting depicts the Via dei Sepolcri; as a Roman custom, the road leading out of the city was used as a funerary space, flanked by sepulchral monuments. The street was beautifully immortalized by the words of Alexandre Dumas taken from Corricolo "a road that offers at its extremity., Like a great arch through which one sees nothing but the sky, that door by which one went from the city of the dead to the city ??of the living; that one surrounds all this with silence, solitude, meditation, and one will have an idea, still very incomplete, of the marvelous aspect that the suburb of Pompeii presents ". another painting depicts the Via dei Sepolcri; as a Roman custom, the road leading out of the city was used as a funerary space, flanked by sepulchral monuments. The street was beautifully immortalized by the words of Alexandre Dumas taken from Corricolo "a road that offers at its extremity., Like a great arch through which one sees nothing but the sky, that door by which one went from the city of the dead to the city ??of the living; that one surrounds all this with silence, solitude, meditation, and one will have an idea, still very incomplete, of the marvelous aspect that the suburb of Pompeii presents ". The street was beautifully immortalized by the words of Alexandre Dumas taken from Corricolo "a road that offers at its extremity., Like a great arch through which one sees nothing but the sky, that door by which one went from the city of the dead to the city ??of the living; that one surrounds all this with silence, solitude, meditation, and one will have an idea, still very incomplete, of the marvelous aspect that the suburb of Pompeii presents ". The street was beautifully immortalized by the words of Alexandre Dumas taken from Corricolo "a road that offers at its extremity., Like a great arch through which one sees nothing but the sky, that door by which one went from the city of the dead to the city ??of the living; that one surrounds all this with silence, solitude, meditation, and one will have an idea, still very incomplete, of the marvelous aspect that the suburb of Pompeii presents ".

Condition report:

Excellent. Wear consistent with age and use.