Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
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artists who were supplying the market with paintings of the
volcano at this period included Camillo de Vito, Xavier della
Gatta and many others whose names have not survived.
Volaire studied with Vernet in Paris, and moved to Italy in
1764, settling in Naples on the lido at Chiaia, directly across the
bay from the volcano.8 There he became greatly sought after as
a painter of the most dramatic Vesuvian eruptions, a speciality
he prudently developed after the 1771 eruption, often making
strong contrasts between lava-light and moonlight. His accom-
plished technique and bold manner influenced many artists
around him, including Wright and Wutky, and he was a favourite
with William Hamilton, who bought his work.9 Volaire was a
generation younger than the painters of the Rococo style, and
moved Rococo subject-matter on from nymphs and shepherds
in pastel greens and pinks to the fiery violence of volcanoes. He
brought power and passion to this fey and often feckless style
that had already become unfashionable in the face of developing
revolutionary tendencies in Europe and the emergence of Neo-
Classicism and the Romantic. Where true Rococo might use a
series of artfully aligned corn sheaves, gardening tools or shells
to create an interlinked vertical climbing form in a painting or
piece of furniture, Volaire uses in
Vesuvius Erupting at Night
a
William Hamilton
and Pietro Fabris, plate
from
Campi Phlegraei
(1776-9), showing
Hamilton accompanying
the King and Queen
of Naples up Vesuvius
during an eruption,
11 May 1771.
