Sellers by the Sea
unknown (Neapolitan School)
Basic information
- ID
- Ж-1686
- Author
- unknown (Neapolitan School)
- Name
- Sellers by the Sea
- Date of creation
- 18th c.
- Technique
- oil painting
- Material
- duplicated canvas oil
- Dimensions (height x width, cm)
- 61 x 95
Additionally
- Type
- painting
- Genre
- landscape marine painting genre art
- Provenance
- Collection of Lviv City Gallery
- Exposition
- Potocki Palace
Information about author
Object description
The multi-figure, dynamic genre scene against a marine landscape is executed in the traditions of 18th-century Italian genre painting – either the Bamboccianti movement or the Neapolitan school. A warm colour palette of ochre, brown, olive, and terracotta tones prevails, with splashes of red and green.
The action unfolds against a panoramic view of a sea bay, presumably the Bay of Naples. On the left, silhouettes of city buildings are visible, while in the centre rises a cone-shaped mountain resembling Mount Vesuvius. Billowing clouds, illuminated by the soft morning sun, drift across the sky.
In the foreground on the shore, a bustling trade is underway. In the centre stands a large wooden cart drawn by oxen, from which three men are unloading watermelons. On the left, a vendor behind a counter slices a watermelon, while the first customers savour the juicy slices. Beneath the stall, a black pig can be seen picking up rinds that fall to the ground.
On the right, children and adolescents are also involved in the work. Two boys carry a woven basket and a tray of roasted chestnuts. A girl in a striped skirt crouches near a large bowl of vegetables, fanning the produce. Her mother sits with her back to the viewer on a chair, holding a distaff. She gazes intently into a "magic lantern" (la lanterna magica) held in the left hand of a street theatre performer. The latter is a tall man in a white robe and a dark hat, holding a small bell in his right hand.
In the background, amid a crowd of children, a sorbet vendor is visible with a large metal canister at his feet. All characters are dressed in traditional Italian folk attire of the 18th century.
The action unfolds against a panoramic view of a sea bay, presumably the Bay of Naples. On the left, silhouettes of city buildings are visible, while in the centre rises a cone-shaped mountain resembling Mount Vesuvius. Billowing clouds, illuminated by the soft morning sun, drift across the sky.
In the foreground on the shore, a bustling trade is underway. In the centre stands a large wooden cart drawn by oxen, from which three men are unloading watermelons. On the left, a vendor behind a counter slices a watermelon, while the first customers savour the juicy slices. Beneath the stall, a black pig can be seen picking up rinds that fall to the ground.
On the right, children and adolescents are also involved in the work. Two boys carry a woven basket and a tray of roasted chestnuts. A girl in a striped skirt crouches near a large bowl of vegetables, fanning the produce. Her mother sits with her back to the viewer on a chair, holding a distaff. She gazes intently into a "magic lantern" (la lanterna magica) held in the left hand of a street theatre performer. The latter is a tall man in a white robe and a dark hat, holding a small bell in his right hand.
In the background, amid a crowd of children, a sorbet vendor is visible with a large metal canister at his feet. All characters are dressed in traditional Italian folk attire of the 18th century.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
