Gaspare Vanvitelli is unanimously considered the founder of the eighteenth-century urban veduta, which was based on close observation of views and drawing from life, including scenes of everyday events and contemporary society. Born in Holland, where he was known as Gaspar van Wittel, Vanvitelli was a disciple of still-life and landscape painter Matthias Withoos in Utrecht, one of the Dutch cities most marked by Italian culture. He moved to Italy in 1674, living in Rome, Naples and Venice, where he painted the first views in oil.

The Villa Martinelli and the Palace of the Duke of Aquale in Posillipo (Naples), early eighteenth century, was undoubtedly painted from life with the help of a camera obscura. It shows a small bay in the gulf of Posillipo, a region west of Naples whose name derives from the Greek Pausílypon, meaning rest from worries, as the bay is an ideal place for leisure. The palace on the left is the Villa Martinelli, also known as the Villa Cappella di Montesanto in its time. Built around 1700, it was replaced by a modern construction in 1952. The other building which dominates the composition belonged to the Duke of Aquale. This fortress-like building was constructed in 1629, during the viceroyal period, and rebuilt in 1849 by the Mazziotti family, who were barons of Celso. Behind it, the bay stretches back to Chiaia. In Vanvitelli’s veduta Mount Vesuvius is not visible but the Castel Sant’Elmo appears atop the Collina di San Martino, with the Certosa di San Martino to the right. In 1697 the Duke of Medinaceli, Viceroy of Spain, had Chiaia adorned with elegant stone-paved streets, willow trees and fountains. The setting is further enlivened by the gentlemen and ladies arriving in adorned feluccas to enjoy strolling along the waterfront, fishing and watching sailors on the beach as they haul their nets out of the water (Maurer, G.: Italian Masterpieces. From Spain´s Royal Court, Museo del Prado, 2014, p. 250).