The Bay of Naples from the West, with the Chiaia, San Martino, Capodimonte, Castel dell'Ovo and Vesuvius beyond

Little is known about the life and career of Tommaso Ruiz, but his views of Naples in the eighteenth century provide a key record of the city's development. The present painting is an early work by the artist and may once have belonged to a set of four, not unlike the somewhat smaller set datable to around 1740 sold in these Rooms on 8 December 2017, lot 188. Ruiz describes Naples in vivid colour and detail, depicting the port as it existed prior to its reconstruction under Charles III, Duke of Bourbon.