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Notes
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The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies comprised Naples and the island of Sicily. Under King Ferdinand IV and Queen Maria-Carolina it proved a valuable foothold for British Mediterranean operations until it was annexed by Napoleon in 1806. The picture shows the splendour of the Neapolitan Court on the move, with richly furnished ships progressing with full pomp. In 1785 the King and Queen commenced a protracted grand tour in Italy. They embarked at Naples on 30 April on a richly decorated ship, followed by 12 men-of-war, sailing initially to Leghorn. They travelled with such magnificence and liberality that Ferdinand acquired the name of the 'Golden Monarch'. This painting marks the city of Naples great festivities when they returned from Leghorn in 1786.
Serres was a well-born Frenchman from Gascony who ran away to sea in merchant service rather than follow family wish that he enter the Church. He probably arrived in England as a naval prisoner of war, took up painting and settled there. His early paintings show the influence of Brooking and Monamy's interpretations of Dutch art but he rapidly achieved recognition for his more documentary visual accounts of sea actions of the Seven Years War, 1756–1763, becoming established as England's leading marine painter. A well respected and sociable man, he was appointed Marine Painter to George III in 1780.
Title
Arrival of Their Sicilian Majesties at Naples, 12 October 1785
Date
1787
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 114.3 x W 184.1 cm
Accession number
BHC0458
Work type
Painting
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road, Greenwich, London, Greater London SE10 9NF England
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