Artist Unknown, Street in Naples

Oil, plywood, 29 x 23 cm, 19th/20th c.
Signature p.d.: illegible.

The street depicted in the painting is the Neapolitan Porta Capuana. The single-span gate framed by two massive towers (here one of them is obscured by a building) was built in 1484, when Naples was under the sovereignty of the kingdom of Aragon. It was an important transportation point for the city. In 1656, the gate was completed with a tier with a niche containing a fresco of the Archangel Michael. It faded over the years and was replaced in 1834 by a painting by Gennaro Maldarelli depicting the Immaculate Virgin Mary. The current view differs from that depicted in the painting, as in the 1930s it was decided to restore the gate to its original 15th century appearance. The schematic view of the niche in the painting makes it possible to recognize in it the image of the Virgin Mary, whose appearance is known from archival photographs taken in the 19th century.