Juan Ruiz

Pedro Caro (1761-1811), 3^rd Marqués de la Romana, Palma de Mallorca;
By descent to Alvaro Caro y Széchényi, the 3^rd son of the 5^th Marqués de la Romana, married Isabel Guillamas y Pineyro, Marquesa de Villamayor y Condesa de Torrubia;
Thence by descent in the female line to the present owners.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden, who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. These paintings on coarsely woven canvas are all unlined and on their original narrow stretchers without wedges. Remarkably apart from a little brittleness at the edges or along the stretcher bar lines, most have remained exceedingly well intact. There have been a few minor patches in one or two, a little rough repair here or there, a superficial very old cosmetic sunset vaguely overlaid in places or partly wiped away. Some minor recent tidying up has happened but it is possible that large areas of the main scenes may in fact scarcely ever have been touched, (skies are of course always liable to have been subjected to more interference.) Naples, seen from the Bay with the Molo Grande and the Castel del’ Ovo. Signed Joannes Ruiz P. in lower right corner. In this painting the upper stretcher bar line has some rough blanched surface retouching with two other little knocks nearby also retouched. Another slight knock from behind is on the skyline to the left leaving a small line of craquelure. The base edge has a few slightly raised little flakes. Minute chips can occasionally be seen but the paint is strong and remains complete, virtually throughout. Superficial old pinkish repaint on part of the sky has been partially wiped off with smears of old varnish. However the magnificent underlying original and extraordinary details remain perfectly preserved. Naples, looking towards Mount Vesuvius. This painting has suffered rather more than the others, with three small patches, two at lower right and one nearer the lower centre. There is also a more recent triangular patch at the upper centre right supporting a damaged cloud, which has been crudely retouched. The base edge is also roughly retouched as is the crest of Vesuvius and sky above. Old varnish is smeared along the central skyline and the hillside which is worn. Other frequent retouchings are visible in the sky under ultra violet light. However despite these very obvious damages, in between there is beautifully intact paint, with remarkably fine detail including the perfect minute rigging of the ships. Very unusually alone among all the many ships to be found in all four of the paintings, just one single ship here has been knocked and retouched. Naples, View of Bay. This painting has some old woodworm in the stretcher and the frame. The condition throughout is exceptionally well preserved, even in the minute detail of the wooded central hillside. There is no wear and the detail remains perfectly crisp and clear. There are a few little imperfections, tiny chips or brittleness along the stretcher bar lines, at the edges and by the few minor knocks: a diagonal line probably a chance scratch from behind above the hill at centre left, with a little slanting line of crackle at upper centre right. At lower right just above the buildings there is another small knock, which has a small recent patch behind. The left edge and the top edge also have minor retouchings. However this painting is exceptionally well preserved. Naples, from the side with the Castle above and the distant Volcano. Signed at beach on the left. The edges in this painting to left and right in the sky have old wider overpaint. There is a slanting vertical scratch in the right sky. The lower stretcher bar line and the base edge has old retouching as has the far shore above the line of buildings, with some also in the water and a scratch in the buildings at left mid foreground. Across the sky there are various retouchings including the remains of the old pinkish cosmetic retouching. Nevertheless the fine underlying condition of the painting remains intact as is the case with all of this group. These reports have not been done under laboratory conditions.
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These four views of the coast surrounding the city of Naples, each one preserved in its presumably original Italianate frame, unlined and on its original stretcher, not only constitute four rare examples of signed works by the artist Juan Ruiz but, more importantly, they form together the only such set still to exist in the same ownership. In their detail and level of execution they are, too, undoubtedly the finest known works by the artist in either public or private ownership.

The rarity of these four paintings is compounded by their having remained together in the same aristocratic family collection since at least the early 19^th century. The integrity of the group has no doubt been preserved through its esteemed provenance, having belonged to Pedro Caro (1761-1811), 3^rd Marquès de la Romana, the great patron of Francisco de Goya and one of the most successful Generals of the Spanish War of Independence.  The paintings have descended by inheritance and marriage to the present owners.

The only comparable recorded set by Ruiz are the group of five views listed in a 1746-inventory of the collection of Elisabetta Farnese, Queen of Spain, as hanging in the Palacio Real de Riofrio in Segovia.¹ These are however now dispersed, and repeat the same compositions as the present set but with the addition of a view of Messina. Only two of these five works have been convincingly identified: the View of the bay from Posillipo looking towards Mount Vesuvius in the Museo del Prado, Madrid;² and the View of the gulf of Pozzuoli and the port of Baia offered in these Rooms on 5 July 2012, lot 309. The Farnese paintings were sent to the Queen from Naples by Don Juan Lorenzo de Coyra, an official in the household of her son Carlos VII of Naples (later Carlos III of Spain). Both the above works are characterised by two putti holding aloft a detailed description of the view depicted, idiosyncrasies that were most likely added by another artist once the paintings reached Spain from Naples. In comparison with both of them, the present versions (and especially that of the latter) are far more detailed, with more craft on the water and more figures lining the shore, but they are executed very much in the same spirit, and on canvases of the same dimensions.

Other versions of all four compositions exist, of varying dimensions. Other than those previously mentioned there is a pair by Juan Ruiz depicting Naples from Posillipo and Naples from the Castel dell’Ovo towards Posillipo in a Neapolitan private collection; and paintings by Tommaso Ruiz of the other two views here depicted formerly on the London art market and, in the case of a signed and 1749-dated version of the View of the gulf of Pozzuoli and Baia, in the De Feo collection, Naples.³

While it is possible that the present set was, like that listed in the Farnese inventory, originally formed of five paintings, including a view of Messina, it is by no means certain. The patron of this set will most likely have had different requirements to the royal commission which itself presumably had as its specific aim the rendition of the major cities of the kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies.  This set of four views of Naples is utterly cohesive as it is and though its original function is not known it cannot be totally discounted that, either as a set of four or five, it was originally destined for a prestigious European court linked to the Bourbons of Naples and Spain.

Although biographical detail on the artist is sparse we can, on the evidence available to us, surmise that Juan was the elder brother of Tommaso Ruiz, the Spanish émigré with whom he has often been confused. Both artists would most likely have come to Naples from their native Spain with the court of Carlos VII of Naples. Tommaso’s earliest known work is dated 1732, whereas signed works by Juan predate this by a decade (see A Capriccio of a classical port signed and dated 1720, sold London Christie’s, 9 July 2008, lot 178). Juan is clearly the more gifted painter and Tomasso’s works are very much repetitions of Juan’s rather than vice versa.  We can however assume that both Ruizs shared a practise on the basis that they both specialised almost exclusively in Neapolitan subjects, often even subscribing to the same compositional formulas which eschewed the vogue for the style of Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli, in favour of the more mannered approach of Antonio Joli. On stylistic grounds however, Juan seems to be the more dominant artistic force. Despite both artists sharing a characteristic love of detail, the views of Juan are distinguished by lighter, more luminous colours, and are by and large more picturesque in conception.

In the 17^th century, Naples had grown to become Europe’s second largest city – second only to Paris – and the largest European Mediterranean city with around 400,000 inhabitants. As such it had become an obligatory stop-off for Grand Tourists drawn by its culture, climate and proximity to Vesuvius and its environs. Its popularity can be gauged in these paintings with a glance at the number of boats moored in the bay. Vesuvius, which can be seen smoking in the background of A view of Naples looking East, was incredibly active in the eighteenth century, with relatively severe eruptions occurring in 1707, 1737, 1760, 1767 and 1779.

Both Naples, seen from the bay, with the Molo Grande in the centre and the Castel dell’Ovo and Naples, seen from the Castel dell'Ovo with the Riviera di Chiaia and Posillipo beyond seem to depict particular events which remain frustratingly unidentified.  The principal ships in each painting however are flying flags displaying the royal arms of Spain and it has been suggested that the paintings commemorate the marriage of Charles VII of Naples to Maria Amalia of Saxony in 1738. However, that the commemoration of a particular event was their original purpose seems unlikely, and such an event merely provides an excuse for the depiction of the elaborate maritime display that animates these principally topographical views.  

The pictures provide us with a historically important insight into a rapidly evolving cityscape. Beyond the historical context, they also provide us with a fascinating insight into Eighteenth century artistic practises. Such a high volume of traffic through the city would have guaranteed a high demand for Neapolitan views such as these, and commissions clearly often extended to multiple pictures designed to function together as pendants. The combination of the elongated overdoor format and elevated viewpoint allows for an impressive continuation of the coastline, and although not conceived as a strict panorama, the two paintings showing  A view of the bay from Posillipo looking towards Mount Vesuvius and A view from the Castel dell'Ovo with the Riviera di Chiaia and Posillipo beyond would have been painted with their eventual hanging side-by-side in mind, thus conveying the full breadth of the bay.

1. For details see J. Urrea Fernandez, La Pintura Italiana del Siglo XVIII en España, Valladolid 1977, p. 357.
2. See N. Spinosa, L. di Mauro, Vedute napoletane del Settecento, Naples 1993, p. 190, cat. no. 48, fig. 43.
3. Ibid., plates 19 & 20, and figs. 43 & 44.