View of the Temples at Paestum with Grand Tourists in the foreground

Gabriele Ricciardelli is believed to have been a pupil of Nicola Bonito and Jan Frans van Bloemen. He was employed by the Bourbon court at Portici and provided several overdoors for the Palazzo Reale in Naples. Ricciardelli was exceptional among the Neapolitan view painters in that he spent part of his career in England and Ireland: between 1753 and 1759 he was in Dublin, and in 1777 he was recorded in London. His four vedute of Naples, engraved by Antonio Cardon in 1765, found great success with the English nobility.

According to Donna Paola Zancani-Montuoro, the view represented in this painting is accurate in the present day, apart from the steps leading to the Temples which were excavated in this century (written communication, 3 December 1968). The only other known version of this view was sold as a pair together with a View of Posilippo from Chiaia, Christie's, London, 13 December 1996, lot 76.