TOMMASO RUIZ | VESUVIUS ERUPTING AT NIGHT, MAY 1737

"Who isn’t fascinated by the sight of Europe’s most iconic volcano erupting to illuminate the night sky? – especially when you’re among onlookers separated at a safe distance by the water of the Bay of Naples!"

Georgina Eliot

Artists from all over Europe flocked to paint Vesuvius' eruptions, which were particularly frequent during the middle decades of the eighteenth century. Ruiz specialised in painting small coppers, and presumably enjoyed a steady stream of clients looking for a souvenir of their Grand Tour.

A signed version of the composition is in the Palacio Reale di Riofrio. A replica of that, on canvas, 38 x 77 cm, is in a Neapolitan private collection (exhibited Naples, Castel Sant'Elmo, All'ombra del Vesuvio, 1990, p. 421, reproduced in colour p. 285). Those have similar arrangements of boats, but there are many variations, notably that the large ship on the right is seen here from the row rather than the stern, and the yacht in the foreground is here more central.