17th Century Dutch School, Animated View Of The Port Of Naples

As early as the 16th century, the Dutch had given the landscape its letters of nobility. A view of the naval battle in the Bay of Naples painted by Peter Bruegel in 1560 (still around 8 years after his trip to Italy) gives a relatively important part to the panorama with Vesuvius visible in the background. In the 17th century, Dutch painters thus made their specialty detailed and precise views of recognizable towns, which flatters the pride of the wealthy Dutch, Vermeer's View of Delft (1660-1661) being one example. Holland was thus able to influence the first Venetian Vedutists through the intermediary of bambochades, small genre paintings, describing sketches in an urban setting, known by the precursors of Vedutism such as Gaspar van Wittel and Luca Carlevarijs. In our table, the port of Naples is perfectly identifiable, although somewhat idealized, the Vesuve in the background, the Castel Nuivo in the foreground on the left. We will appreciate the quality of the animation of the characters at the bottom left and the marines on the right.