Moon Landscape with Vesuvius Eruption

In the publication Zentrum der Macht, Imma Walderdorff identified the two paintings listed as works by Michael Wutky (1739–1822/23?) as the supraporte paintings by Fidanza listed in the 1802 and 1803 inventories.
It is not known how Prince-Archbishop Colloredo acquired the Fidanza paintings Moon Landscape with Vesuvius Eruption and Seascape with Fishing-Boats. It was probably an order made though an agent in Italy. Like Albert Christoph Dies, Fidanza rendered different moods in the companion pieces: day and night.
By far the more dramatic is Moon Landscape with Vesuvius Eruption. The night is illuminated by two natural light sources: the cold white moonlight on the left and the warm orange-red glow of the erupting volcano on the right. Ominously, the fiery mountain spews rocks and lava, endangering the town visible in its glow. Ships lie in the bay, the crews busy hauling in their nets. Fascinated, people on the shore and in the boats watch this spectacle of nature. In the latter half of the 18th century, nocturnal scenes like this one were immensely popular among Grand Tourists. After the almost continuous activity of Vesuvius during the 1770s, it became the most famous landmark of Naples. A particularly violent eruption in 1794 focused artists’ attention once more on the volcano.

Translated catalogue text from:
Ducke Astrid: Zurückgeholt. Residenzgalerie Salzburg, Salzburg 2017, S. 35

Translation: Gail Schamberger MA, Salzburg