The Royal Procession at Piedigrotta, oil on canvas, 71 x 255 cm, framed

We are grateful to Ralph Toledano for confirming the attribution of the present painting after examining the original.

Several autograph versions of this panoramic composition by Antonio Joli are known (see R. Toledano, Antonio Joli, Turin 2006, nos. XV.1 to XV.9, pp. 324–42, nos. XXVII.1 to XXVII.8, pp. 364–72). Some are in one piece and others are in two. According to Toledano, the present composition was most probably originally conceived as two separate canvases, which were subsequently joined together to create a single painting depicting the entire scene. The process appears to be completely reversible.

The wide panoramic style of Joli’s present composition allows for the creation of a bustling arc of soldiers, spectators and royalty, together with courtiers with sumptuous carriages. The lively procession displays the cheerful, ceremonial spirit of the Bourbon capital of Naples in the middle of the 18th Century.

In 1734, as the Duke of Parma, Charles of Bourbon, conquered the kingdoms of Naples and of Sicily, and was crowned as the King of Naples and Sicily in 1735, reigning as Charles VII of Naples and Charles V of Sicily. In 1738 he married Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony, and they resided in Naples for nineteen years.

The present painting depicts the Bourbon royals in a magnificent procession to the church of Santa Maria di Piedigrotta. The procession had been inaugurated by King Charles as a visual spectacle to celebrate the day traditionally observed as the birthday of the Madonna on 8 September. The procession of the court’s carriages travelled along the Passeggiata di Chiaia, between Pizzofalcone and Posillipo to the church of Piedigrotta. Naples was one of the largest cities in Europe during this period, and the Neapolitan populace were deeply religious.

In the distance of the present composition, Vesuvius, Portici and the Sorrento peninsula can be seen all wrapped in a typical blue haze. Below Pizzofalcone it is possible to identify the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria with its tripartite façade, which at that time was surrounded by a garden. The three-floor cubic palace with three windows in the middle of the Passeggiata is that of the Princes of Conca. In the centre rises the massive structure of the church of San Leonardo a Chiaia. To the right is the white façade of the church of Santa Maria della Neve. From right to left, in the royal carriages topped with a crown, those travelling in the first carriage cannot be identified, as the carriage is seen from an angle; however in the second carriage to the right of the church of San Leonardo King Charles of Bourbon can be seen, wearing the red sash of San Gennaro which is just visible beneath his jacket, and his consort, Maria Amalia of Saxony, wears a tall wig. Travelling in the third carriage is the young prince who would become Ferdinand VII of Naples in 1759, and probably, opposite him, the Marquis Tanucci, who would act as regent after the departure of King Charles for Spain until the young king became 16 years of age. A princess that cannot be identified, one of eight children of the royal couple who reached adulthood, also rides in the third carriage.

The description of the buildings around Pizzofalcone and at the top of the Passeggiata di Chiaia on the left and at the end of the Passeggiata on the right is, according to Toledano, emblematic of Antonio Joli’s more mature work. The detailed and realistic buildings are bathed in a beautiful golden light. This unique combination of stylistic elements earned the Modenese painter the nickname “the Neapolitan Canaletto”.

The presence of both King Charles and Prince Ferdinand in the same representation means it can be dated to just before 1759, when the royal father left Naples to ascend the throne of Spain. This latter event was portrayed by Joli in a series of paintings, similar in style to the present composition (see op. cit., no. XV).

We are grateful to Ralph Toledano for his help in cataloguing this lot.