Naples · Palazzo Francavilla, visiting Hackert

First visit to Jakob Philipp Hackert, the landscape painter favoured by the king and queen, who lives in a wing of the Palazzo Francavilla: a man who combines incessant work with the enjoyment of life. Then down to the sea, to watch fish and curious creatures drawn from the waves.

Naples, 28 February 1787

To-day we visited Philip Hackert, the famous landscape-painter, who enjoys the special confidence and peculiar favour of the king and the queen. A wing of the palace Franca Villa has been assigned to him, which, having furnished it with true artistic taste, he feels great satisfaction in inhabiting. He is a very precise and prudent personage, who, with untiring industry, manages, nevertheless, to enjoy life.

After that we took a sail, and saw all kinds of fish and wonderful shapes drawn out of the waves. The day was glorious; the tramontane (north winds) tolerable.

Original German text · Neapel, den 28. Februar 1787.

Heute besuchten wir Philipp Hackert, den berühmten Landschaftsmaler, der eines besondern Vertrauens, einer vorzüglichen Gnade des Königs und der Königin genießt. Man hat ihm einen Flügel des Palasts Francavilla eingeräumt, den er mit Künstlergeschmack möblieren ließ und mit Zufriedenheit bewohnt. Es ist ein sehr bestimmter, kluger Mann, der bei unausgesetztem Fleiß das Leben zu genießen versteht.

Dann gingen wir ans Meer und sahen allerlei Fische und wunderliche Gestalten aus den Wellen ziehen. Der Tag war herrlich, die Tramontane leidlich.

Today

Palazzo Cellamare, the former Palazzo Francavilla in Via Chiaia, where Hackert occupied a wing.
Palazzo Cellamare, the former Palazzo Francavilla in Via Chiaia, where Hackert occupied a wing.

The Palazzo Francavilla is today the Palazzo Cellamare, in Via Chiaia.

Where: Via Chiaia 139, 80121 Napoli

Works and documents

Jakob Philipp Hackert, court painter to Ferdinand IV.
Jakob Philipp Hackert, court painter to Ferdinand IV.
A view of the bay of Naples by Jakob Philipp Hackert.
A view of the bay of Naples by Jakob Philipp Hackert.

AI reconstruction

The fish and curious creatures drawn from the waves with Hackert, 28 February 1787, AI reconstruction (SPUN, 2026).
The fish and curious creatures drawn from the waves with Hackert, 28 February 1787, AI reconstruction (SPUN, 2026).

Videos

Further reading

Sources

J.W. Goethe, Italienische Reise, original German text (public domain).

Translated by A.J.W. Morrison (Goethe’s Travels in Italy, London, Bell; public domain).

  • Place
  • Establishment Date
    1787-02-28
  • Address
    Via Chiaia 139, 80121 Napoli
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