Footnotes

Provenance
Sale, London, probably late 19th century, lot 250 (as 'GASPAR BOILA, 1727, on copper panel, 42in by 18in - 'Town of Naples, with sea-shore, Boats and Vesuvius in the distance in carved gilt frame' (according to a label on the reverse)
Private Collection, England, by circa 1900 and by descent until offered
Sale, Christie's, London, 5 July 2011, lot 50 (for £229,250), where acquired by the present owners

Depicting the sweep of the city of Naples from a spot at the beginning of Strada Posillipo, the present view shows the Riviera di Chiaia with the Castel Sant'Elmo and the Certosa di San Martino on the ridge above, along with the Castel dell'Ovo on the far right, and the erupting Mount Vesuvius beyond.

Little is known about the details of the life of Gaspard Butler, it is thought he may be of English, or possibly Dutch or Flemish extraction. He was active in Naples by 1723, the date of the present work, and whilst there he secured the patronage of the family of Admiral George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, who served in the Mediterranean 1718-19, and also Graf Aloys Thomas Harrach, Viceroy of Naples and Sicily from 1728-1733. A group of six views on canvas, now in a private collection, Vienna, are known to have been executed for the latter patron; four of these views are dated 1730 and the other two 1731 and 1733 (see N. Spinosa, Pittura napoletana del Settecento, Naples, 1987, p. 155, no. 267, ill. fig. 358-363). Amongst the Harrach group is a view which is taken from the same point and has a very similar distribution of boats. Given the 1723 date of the present work, along with the highly refined detail with which the city is depicted, it is most likely that the present work is the prime composition on which the later works were based.

Charles Beddington is planning to include this and the previous lot in a forthcoming article on Gaspard Butler.