The Bay of Naples and Vesuvius, attributed to Carl-Wilhelm GÖTZLOFF

Carl-Wilhelm GÖTZLOFF. Attributed to
(Dresden, 1799 -Naples, 1866)
The Bay of Naples and Vesuvius from the Pausilippe
Oil on canvas
H. 66 cm; L. 98.5 cm

Trained in Dresden by Caspar Friedrich and the Norwegian landscape painter Dahl, Carl Götzloff discovered Italy in 1821 and settled in Naples in 1825.
From then on, his paintings moved away from Friedrian Romanticism towards the style of the Pausilippe School, whose main exponents were the Dutch painter Pitloo and the Italians Gigante and Duclère, with whom Götzloff shared an apartment for a time. The works produced were large panoramic vedute of the Neapolitan coast, bathed in warm light and often animated with figures to lend picturesqueness to the whole.

Götzloff's geographical distance from Germany did not prevent him from being a member of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, and also from acting as artistic agent for Prussian King Frederick William IV. In 1835, Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies, appointed him court painter. Despite his international success, the artist died in poverty in Naples.

The way the clouds are written, and the way the houses and figures are treated, allow us to link our painting to Götzloff's style. Götzloff does not fail to depict Vesuvius and its fumaroles, the Castle of the Egg, the San Martino Charterhouse, but also a small architectural folly. The pagoda at the water's edge in the background was built around 1815 by the Duke of Roccaromana for the villa that bears his name. A lover of exoticism and taxidermy, the Duke held grand parties in this villa, which is now a condominium divided into several apartments.