(Toulon 1729–c.1799 Naples)
The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius of 15th June 1794, with spectators in the foreground and the Bay of Naples beyond,
bears signature: Le C.er Volaire f.
oil on canvas, 66.5 x 92 cm, framed

Inscribed on a label on the reverse: “Eruption du Vesuve […] de juin 1794/ […] sur le/ village de Torre del greco la détruisant et/ s’éteignant dans la mer […]/par le Chevalier Volaire”

Provenance:
European private collection

We are grateful to Dr. Emilie Beck Saiello for confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a digital photograph.

The present unpublished painting depicts the famous eruption of the Vesuvius on 15th June 1794, one of the major and more devastating of the 18th century, when a lava flow, pouring from fractures opened on the south-west slope of the Volcano and reached the village of Torre del Greco, destroying a large part of the town.

Volaire, who witnessed the event, depicted the eruption of 1794 in a small group of paintings among which the version in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples is the most renowned (see E: Beck Saiello, Pierre Jacques Volaire 1729–1799 dit le Chevalier Volaire, Paris 2010, pp. 254–256, nos. P119–123). Beck Saiello has suggested identifying the present canvas with one of those mentioned in old sales, still untraced, depicting the same subject and similar in size (see Beck Saiello, cit., p. 286, no. PM 125; p. 288, no. PM 131; p. 408, no. IM.13).

Pierre-Jacques Volaire, called le Chevalier Volaire, came from a well-known family of painters in Toulon. He met Joseph Vernet in his native town and worked with him on the celebrated cycle of French Ports. He collaborated regularly with Vernet over a seven-to-eight year period. By 1764 Volaire had left for Rome, where he executed compositions of landscapes and seascapes until 1769. He then moved to Naples, where he turned his attention to Mount Vesuvius’s eruption and became a specialist in this subject, responding to the great demand for souvenirs of the phenomenon. Naples was in the second half of the 18th century an obligatory stop on the Grand Tour: wealthy travellers were fascinated by the recent archaeological discoveries and by the volcanic eruptions at Vesuvius, which in 1764 had begun nearly three continuous decades of activity becoming one of the must-see spectacles in Europe.

Volaire had been an eye witness to all the major eruptions from 1769 onwards and his paintings accurately transmit the event. Although he was probably aware of the scientific interest of the phenomenon and he was accurate in registering the topographical aspects, including recognizable sites and monuments, he was interested in recreating the experience of standing in front of a spectacle of nature, terrible and fascinating at the same time. As in the present painting, the artist was able to capture the most sensational moments of the eruption: the scene is dominated by the red - orange lava rivers against the dark night, while a cool full moon shines high above and in the foreground some figures, simple silhouettes, observe from a safe distance, awe-struck by the power of nature.