Jakob Philipp Hackert

Maria Carolina of Austria (1752-1814), Queen of Naples and Sicily, wife of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, III of Sicily and IV of Naples (1751-1825) ;
Her son Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies (1777-1830);
His son Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies (1810-1859);
By descent to his daughter Princess Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies (1849-1882), who married Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907);
Elias Duke of Parma (1880-1959), who married the Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1882-1940);
Thence by descent.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden, who is an external expert and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a recent lining and stretcher. It is exceptionally immaculate and virtually perfectly intact. The early craquelure is faintly noticeable in the darks of the trees on the right but nowhere is there any hint of insecurity nor any sign of wear. Every brushstroke is crisply preserved, as is the luminosity of the light and colour. One or two little touches at the extreme outer edges can be seen under ultra violet light but elsewhere throughout the paint surface is pure and untouched. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

One of Hackert's singular contributions to the Italian veduta was that he painted a wide variety of sites throughout the peninsula and Sicily that were not depicted, and probably never visited, by other less gregarious vedutisti.  He seems to have been happy to paint familiar views such as Tivoli and the Bay of Naples alongside far less known subjects such as this one.  The Casertana, painted here in silvery morning tones, is the hinterland north of Caserta, and it remains little visited even today.  

The view is from the south bank of the Volturno near Dragoni looking North-North East towards Alife and Piedimonte Matese, with the snow-covered Matese Massif rising beyond.  The river Volturno is now a much smaller river than Hackert paints here.  He has undoubtedly  exaggerated the height of the hills, at any rate from the viewpoint which in reality is across a wide plain, and the village of Alife is barely on rising ground at all, with Piedimonte Matese nestling in a fold of the Matese foothills, the Massif, rising to almost 2,000 metres is snow-covered for the winter months, and is even blessed with a ski resort.

Drawings made by Hackert in the area record a visit to the region in 1791 - in fact they are his only surviving drawings from that year.¹  The evidence suggests that he made very many more drawings than are known today.  No drawing of the present prospect survives, although one from Alife looking back to the valley is known.²

Hackert was forced to flee the Revolution in Naples, where he had been Court Painter, in 1799.  He settled at Careggi, near Florence later in the same year.  Although already in his sixties, he continued to paint vedute such as this one, which he based on his large stock of drawings.  His first view of the area is a painting done while he was still in Naples in 1799, but it depicts a view of the Volturno valley further south, near Caiazzo, much closer to Caserta.³  Further views follow in the same year, and in 1800, but they are all set in the neighbourhood of Caiazzo.⁴  The present veduta would appear to be the first of Hackert's views near Alife and the Matese, but another follows in 1805.⁵  For the probably commission of this picture and its pendant from Hackert by Queen Maria Carolina of Naples please see note to the preceding lot.

1. see C. Nordhoff & H. Reimer, Jakob Philipp Hackert 1737-1807.  Verzeichnis seiner Werke, Berlin 1994, vol. II, pp. 347-350, nos. 850-856.
2. idem, p. 348, no. 851.
3. idem, pp. 135-6, no. 280.
4. idem, pp. 136-7, nos. 282 & 283, p. 143, no. 293.
5. idem, p. 164, no. 334.