Circle of Giuseppe Bonito

Circle of GIUSEPPE BONITO (Castellammare di Stabia, 1707 - Naples, 1789).
"Portrait of Charles of Bourbon as king of Naples".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 102.5 x 80 cm; 118 x 93.5 cm (frame).
This work follows the models of the portrait "Charles of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies", painted in 1745 by Giuseppe Bonito and currently in the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid. The work shows a third Charles dressed in military uniform, accompanied by a helmet that is arranged on the table and holding the baton of command with one of his hands. In the Prado painting one can appreciate a background that opens up to the landscape, while in this case, more attention is focused on the figure, which is defined against a neutral background. In this painting Charles III has been represented in three quarters, following very closely the plastic brilliance of the Neapolitan Rococo, one of whose stellar figures was Giuseppe Bonito. Bonito's influence is evident in the satin coloring of the sumptuous velvet coat, in the gold thread brocades, in the fine lace on the sleeves.... The character's countenance, with its subtly shimmering flesh tones, translates an aristocratic personality, in keeping with his status.
Giuseppe Bonito was one of the most influential Neapolitan painters of the 18th century. A disciple of Francesco Solimena, he soon turned to Rococo delicacy. It was his portraits that opened the doors of the Neapolitan court to him, along with the receipt of numerous commissions for altarpieces and frescoes for churches. As a court painter, in 1741 he portrayed with remarkable realism the embassy of the Ottoman Sultan in Naples, a canvas that was immediately sent to Madrid and is preserved in the Prado Museum. Around 1745 he portrayed Charles VII of the Two Sicilies, future Charles III of Spain, and his wife Queen Maria Amalia of Saxony in two portraits also kept in the Prado Museum. Very remarkable is the portrait of the Infantes Don Fernando and Don Gabriel that is conserved in the Palace of Caserta, painted shortly before the proclamation of Fernando, of only eight years, as king of Naples, surprised in the study, with a compass in the hand and in front of a terrestrial globe. In 1751 he was appointed chamber painter, member of the Academy of St. Luke in Rome in 1752, director of the newly created Academy of Fine Arts of Naples in 1755 and director of the Royal Tapestry Factory of Naples, for which he provided series of cartoons of allegorical and literary character, including the first cartoons of a series of illustrations of Don Quixote woven between 1758 and 1779 destined for the Royal Palace of Caserta.