Attributed to Pietro Fabris active 1754-1804

This crowded and entertaining tableau shows the view from the Darsena, looking towards the sea on which the Spanish fleet lies at anchor. In the foreground we see the King and various nobility and carriages arriving, surrounded by a throng of people who have gathered to witness this historical event.  Upon the death of the Spanish King Ferdinand VI in 1759, he was succeeded by Charles III of Naples but in order to take up the Spanish throne, Charles had to abdicate from that of Naples, in favor of his son, also called Ferdinand, who was only eight years old at the time.  The effective head of state during the early part of the young Ferdinand's reign was the prime minister, Bernardo Tanucci.  Charles' departure from Naples took place on 6 October 1759, and the event was depicted by several painters.  A signed and dated oil painting, executed by Pietro Fabris two years later in 1761 and showing a slightly different moment in the same events, is in a private collection (see All' Ombra del Vesuvio, exhibition catalogue, Naples, Castel Sant' Elmo, 12 May-29 July 1990, pp. 232 and 384).  The viewpoint in the present gouache is in fact rather closer to that in the painting by Antonio Joli, also dated 1761, now in the Prefettura of Naples (see Capolavori in Festa, Effimero barocco a Largo di Palazzo (1638-1759), exhibition catalogue, Naples, Palazzo Reale, 20 December-15 March 1998,  p. 148).

The gouache is sold in an old Neapolitan frame, dating from circa 1800.