The necropolis in front of the Herculanean Gate in Pompeii

Details

Literatur:
Markus Bertsch (Hrsg.), Ausst.-Kat, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Entfesselte Natur. Das Bild der Katastrophe seit 1600, Petersberg 2018, S. 220, Kat.-Nr. 99, mit farb. Abb. S. 223.

Provenienz:
Michael Zeller, Lindau, Auktion, 10.12.2011, Los 2537;
Privatbesitz, Baden-Württemberg.

Description

Giuntotardi specialised in mostly large-format views of Rome and the area around Naples in the style of his presumed teacher, the Swiss Abraham-Louis-Rodolphe Ducros (1748-1810). Since the rediscovery of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried by Vesuvius in 79 AD, in 1738, Naples had become a popular stop for Grand Tour travellers flocking from far and wide. As the number of visitors grew, so did the demand for vedute in this style, as souvenirs for the travellers themselves or as gifts for those back home. It is not known whether Giuntotardi ever visited the ruins of Pompeii himself. In his typical colour palette, which tends towards a cool blue, he shows a group of the first “tourists” exploring the necropolis behind the Herculaneum gate, a surprisingly intact row of tombs dating back to the Samnite period. Giuntotardi orientated himself on a depiction by Jean-Louis Desprez from 1789, which was engraved by Francesco Piranesi and was subsequently widely distributed throughout Europe.
A somewhat larger but otherwise identical view of Pompeii is preserved in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (donation Seyboth, inv. no. Gm2311), which suggests that Giuntotardi produced popular motifs in series. – Slight foxing to verso, otherwise in very good condition.