(Castellmare di Stabia 1707–1789 Naples) Portrait of Maria Amalia of Saxony, Queen of Naples and Spain (1724–1760), oil on canvas, 102,5 x 75,6 cm, framed

We are grateful to Professor Nicola Spinosa who has identified the present painting as an autograph work by Bonito from the early of the 1740´s (private correspondence). We are grateful to Professor Steffi Roettgen, for identifying the sitter and for her reference to Naples (private correspondence). We are grateful to Dr. Manuela Mena from the Museo del Prado, Madrid, for her kind help. This portrait is an important rediscovery of Bonito‘s oeuvre. He painted it shortly after the arrival of the sixteen year old Queen in Naples. It was the artist’s first Royal commission and unlike other official portraits this picture emphasizes the sitter´s youth. Maria Amalia was the daughter of Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and Maria Josepha of Austria. She married Charles VII, the future King of Naples (and Charles III as King of Spain). She was a popular monarch, interested in culture and politics, who exerted a strong influence on her husband. She died in Madrid, as Queen of Spain, after her husband ascended to the throne in 1759.