Naples and the Campania paintings
The beautiful bay of Naples and its surrounding region, the Campania, attracted the Romans who built luxurious palaces and villas along its shores. Much later, in the eighteenth century, following the discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum the area became a ‘must-see’ stopping point on the Grand Tour. This in turn led to a demand for landscape paintings to be shipped back home and an English country house would not be complete without its scenes of Naples with Vesuvius smoking in the background. Today much of the shoreline is a mess, with industry and unplanned urban sprawl cheek by jowl with Roman remains. For me, this juxtaposition of ancient and modern is part of its interest. I have aimed to capture this contrast with panoramas seen from high vantage points such as the castle at Baia or the acropolis at Velia.
All images are copyright Peter Lloyd Jones