Naples

1885 · réf. 13892 — 1885. Nineteenth-century view of Naples and its bay documenting the Mediterranean port city during a century of substantial political and urban change. Founded by Greek settlers as Neapolis in the fifth century BCE Naples developed as one of the principal cities of Magna Graecia and remained a major Mediterranean center through successive Roman medieval Bourbon and modern Italian periods. The photograph records the city during the era in which Naples passed from capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to part of the unified Kingdom of Italy. Original nineteenth-century albumen photograph mounted on card approximately 9½ x 7 inches. An umbrella pine dominates the foreground above a broad view of Naples and the bay with the city extending along the shoreline and a mountainous landscape visible in the distance. Fishing boats occupy the water below accompanied by a three-masted sailing vessel and a ruin or structure standing on a constructed islet. The elevated viewpoint combines the city's dense waterfront development with maritime traffic and the surrounding topography. Nineteenth-century Naples remained one of Italy's major ports while also becoming a frequent subject for photographers producing views for travelers drawn to southern Italy and the archaeological sites around the Bay of Naples. The sailing vessels smaller fishing craft waterfront construction and urban shoreline preserve specific evidence of the bay before the extensive modernization of Naples and its harbor in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Very good condition. unknown books