A view of the Bay of Naples from the East, with hussars parading along the harbour

This picture is unique in Antonio Joli’s oeuvre, as the lower viewpoint differs from his other depictions of Naples from the East, allowing a greater appreciation of a part of the city that no longer exists. From the Maschio Angioino Castle (Castel Nuovo), one encounters the Ponte Nuovo which was built around 1740 and was an important part of the project to modernise the harbour of Naples, which Charles III Bourbon insisted should accommodate smaller vessels. At the centre of the Ponte Nuovo stands the Immacolatella, the small red building at the water’s edge which today is the only remnant of old Naples still standing at the port. It was, in fact, the old quarantine station, built to the plans of Domenico Antonio Vaccaro, which takes its name from the sculpture of the Immaculate Virgin above the facade, sculpted by Francesco Pagano. The rest of the waterfront, however, was heavily rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century and again after the Second World War.

The Hussar parade guides the viewer’s gaze along this part of the bay, the sunset creates elongated shadows and illuminates all the building facades with a poetic, golden light. The sharpness of the foreground, juxtaposed with the atmospheric rendering of Castel Sant’Elmo and the various buildings in the distance, has led Ralph Toledano (private communication) to date this picture to around 1764-8, when Joli supplied the Bourbons with a series of views of Naples as a diplomatic gift to the Augsburg court, for the occasion of the wedding of Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina of Austria (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum).