Portrait Of Masaniello Around 1840 Oil On Paper Revolutionary Naples Pompeii To Restore

Portrait of Masaniello

Oil on paper mounted on canvas, inscription lower right "Masaniello" and on the back of the canvas.

Sinking of the paper which caused small tears. Around 1840.

Dimensions:
With frame: 25.8 x 24 cm
Canvas: 21 x 19 cm

Neapolitan revolutionary of the 17th century, who rose up against the Spanish Crown. A fisherman, originally from an Amalfi family, Tomaso Aniello, born vico Rotto al Mercato in the Pendino district, put himself in 1647 at the head of the Neapolitan people insurgent against the tax collectors; he is advised by the jurist Giulio Genoino (circa 1565-1648), a regular in the economic and social tensions of the city, and for more than thirty years a partisan of reforms. On the night of July 6 to 7, Masaniello and his men, mostly vegetable merchants, besieged the palace of the Spanish viceroy Rodriguez Ponce de Léon, forced him to abolish the tax on foodstuffs and to recognize him as governor. Masaniello is, for seven days, absolute master in Naples. Dazzled by his sudden fortune, he quickly became arrogant and cruel, committing massacres in the city, before being soon abandoned by his family and assassinated by emissaries of the viceroy on July 16, 1647. However, on July 22, the gunsmith Gennaro Annese takes up the torch of the revolt and proclaims the republic the following October.