A view of the Bay of Naples, with figures on the Riviera di Chiaia

The little we know about the life of Pietro Antoniani is based on what is written by the Abbot Pietro Zani: 'pittor di vedute pittor di marine: Patria, Milanese: Merito, bravissimo: operava 1775' (P. Zani, Enciclopedia metodica critico-ragionata delle belle arti, Parma, 1817-1824, cited in N. Spinosa and L. Di Mauro, Vedute napoletane del Settecento, Naples, 1993, p. 204). Of Milanese origins, it is not clear when Antoniani moved to Naples, where he probably trained in the circle of Antonio Joli. His Neapolitan views were popular amongst British Grand Tourists visiting Naples, for whom he often painted pairs or series, such as the four pictures signed and dated 1776, formerly in the collection of Sir Joseph Weld at Lulworth Manor (Christie's, London, 12 December 1980, lot 99), which includes a similar view of the city taken from the Carmine. Another comparable veduta, with the same high viewpoint and of similar dimensions, was part of a set of six (Sotheby's, London, 11 December 1991, lot 1).