Gabriele Ricciardelli (born c. 1690, flourished c. 1743– c. 1777 or 1782), was an Italian painter of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

period, active mainly in depicting landscapes.

Biography

He was born in Naples to an engraver and landscape painter, Giuseppe Ricciardelli. He trained under Nicola Bonito in Naples, but then moved to Rome to train under

Jan Frans van Bloemen Jan Frans van Bloemen (baptized 12 May 1662 - buried 13 June 1749) was a Flemish landscape painter mainly active in Rome. Here he was able to establish himself as the leading painter of views (vedute) of the Roman countryside depicted in the aes ...

, (also known as

Orizzonte Jan Frans van Bloemen (baptized 12 May 1662 - buried 13 June 1749) was a Flemish landscape painter mainly active in Rome. Here he was able to establish himself as the leading painter of views (vedute) of the Roman countryside depicted in the ae ...

), where he encountered the work of

Gaspard Poussin Gaspard Dughet (15 June 1615 – 25 May 1675), also known as Gaspard Poussin, was a French painter born in Rome. Life Dughet was born in Rome, the son of a French pastry-cook and his Italian wife. He has always generally been considered as a F ...

and

Claude Lorraine Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...

. Grossi cites his death circa 1760. He was active and popular in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in the court of Charles of Bourbon, employed at

Portici Portici (; ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy. It is the site of the Portici Royal Palace. Geography Portici lies at the foot of Mount Vesuvius on the Bay of Naples, about southeast of Naples itself. There i ...

and he provided them with several over-doors ('sopraporte') pictures for Naples'

Palazzo Reale This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Massa ...

. He specialized in seascapes, and landscapes (

vedute A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''. Origins This genre ...

). One institution described his work thus: ''His Irish scenes being distinguished by his excellently accurate portrayal of architectural features''. An auction cataloguer described him thus: ''Ricciardelli was exceptional among the Neapolitan view painters in that he spent part of his career in Ireland (Dublin 1753-1759) and England (1777). His four vedute of Naples, engraved by Antonio Cardon in 1765, found great success with the English nobility''. When in Dublin, c. 1753, his patrons included Ralph Howard, 2nd

Viscount Wicklow A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

, four of his views of Naples were in the Shelton Abbey sale of 1950; Thomas Dawson, Lord Dartrey; and Dublin's

Rotunda Hospital The Rotunda Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal an Rotunda; legally the Hospital for the Relief of Poor Lying-in Women, Dublin) is a maternity hospital on Parnell Street in Dublin, Ireland, now managed by RCSI Hospitals. The eponymous Rotunda in Parnell Squ ...

, for which an unfinished commission. The dating of the Drogheda pair is based on the inclusion of St. Peter's Church of Ireland, which was rebuilt to a Palladian design from 1748 and re-consecrated, on 22 September 1752.

Gallery

File:Gabriele Ricciardelli View of Drogheda from Ballsgrove c 1750 -1755.jpg, ''View of

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

, from Ballsgrove'', oil-on-canvas, 28 x 60 inches. File:View of Drogheda from Millmount, by Gabriele Ricciardelli c.1753.jpg, ''View of

from Millmount'', oil-on-canvas, 28 x 60 inches. Both these pictures are in Highlanes Municipal Art Gallery, Drogheda, County Louth, Republic of Ireland.

References

* Italian Baroque painters 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Naples Landscape artists Year of death unknown 1690 births Year of birth uncertain 18th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-18thC-stub