Lot 1502 Dα

With a label to the reverse at the top of the stretcher inscribed by a hand other than that of the artist: No (2) / Sessa pres de St. Agata sur la Route de Rome / à Naples. Phi: Hackert f: 1806.

This second painting also shows a location in the Kingdom of Naples, but one less well known than the popular Gulf of Pozzuoli, and far from the usual tourist routes. The painting shows the small town of Sessa Aurunca, located to the north of Naples at the base of Monte S. Croce, the extinct volcano of the nearby town of Roccamonfina. It is located on the Via Appia, which Hackert used for his hikes from Rome to Naples. The artist first explored the area in 1792, but returned in 1794, and in this year made a sketch (Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett; cf: Nordhoff/Reimer 1994, op. cit., nr. 875) of a road lined by trees, presumably the Via Appia. The sketch also shows the ruins of Fort Sessa on a hill and a high, angular tower in soft colours in the distance. The roofs of the town can be seen to the left, surmounted by the maiolica-covered dome and bell tower of the Baroque church of S. Maria dell`Annunziata. The hazy contours of the Monti Aurunci are also visible in this distance.

Hackert appears to have used the background of this sketch with the town of Sessa Aurunca, the buildings of which are clearly recognisable, and the curve of the Via Appia which leads around the front of the sketch. However for the painting, Hackert has changed the original composition of the landscape and added a small river with a waterfall to the front right, the banks of which are lined with poplars and hedges.

Claudia Nordhoff