Bay of Naples

The Bay of Naples was among the most celebrated views in European travel culture, visited and depicted by countless artists on the Grand Tour. Joseph Vernet lived in Rome from 1734 to 1753 and made extensive journeys through Italy, and the Bay of Naples — with Vesuvius as its defining landmark — was a natural destination and subject. This painting, now in The Box museum in Plymouth, entered a British collection through the network of Grand Tour patronage that made Vernet's Italian subjects particularly desirable to English visitors. Vesuvius looming over the bay could be depicted in a state of activity or repose, and both versions attracted buyers: the active volcano added a note of sublime danger to the picturesque scene, while the calm bay version offered Vernet's atmospheric marine skills without dramatic incident. The subject had wide European appeal because it combined topographical recognition with aesthetic pleasure.

The Bay of Naples composition typically places the viewer at an elevated position overlooking the arc of the bay, with Vesuvius in the background, the city of Naples along the shore, and the bay's calm or active water in the middle ground. Vernet's handling of the Mediterranean blue of the bay, the warm ochres of the city and shoreline, and the atmospheric distance of the volcano demonstrates his skills at their most fully engaged.