Gabriele Carelli (naples, 1820 – Menton, 1900), View Of Florence

Gabriele Carelli (Naples, 1820 – Menton, 1900)

View of Florence

Oil on canvas, 56 x 89 cm

With frame, 73 x 106 cm

Signed lower center G.Carelli

View of Florence, attributed to Gabriele Carelli, depicts the city as seen from a hill, likely from the vicinity of San Miniato, with the Arno River running through the composition and its famous bridges—including the Ponte Vecchio—clearly recognizable. On the right, Brunelleschi’s dome and Giotto’s bell tower emerge, along with the other towers characteristic of the city’s skyline. In the foreground, a scene of rural life animates the landscape: peasants, an ox-drawn cart, leafy trees, and the remains of ancient walls form a picturesque setting that frames the urban view in the background, in keeping with the typical 19th-century landscape style. Gabriele Carelli was born in Naples in 1820 into a family of artists associated with the Posillipo School. He trained under the guidance of his father Raffaele alongside his brother Gonsalvo, initially focusing on interior painting with a realist approach. In 1837 he moved to Rome with his brother, learning the technique of watercolor from him and devoting himself to architecture and ancient artifacts. He returned to Naples in 1840. In 1847, William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, took him to England to Chatsworth, where he also stayed in London. Upon his return, he stopped in Lombardy, discovering the work of Giovanni Migliara, whose style he later adopted. After a period in Malta in 1850, he settled permanently in London in 1860, achieving great success with his watercolors exhibited in various British shows. In 1874, he was admitted to the Royal Society of Watercolors. He traveled again to Switzerland and Lombardy in 1872 and received the gold medal in Boston in 1881. Carelli was an excellent landscape and architectural painter, famous for his seascapes of Naples, Amalfi, and the Amalfi Coast, as well as for his evocative interior views, as evidenced by works preserved at the Avellino Art Museum and the Bindi Art Gallery in Giulianova.