100 - Pasquale Mattej (Formia 1813–Naples 1879)

Pasquale Mattej (Formia 1813–Naples 1879) Oil on canvas Cm. 40,5 x 53,5 Cm.57 x 70 con cornice The Wedding of Francis II to Maria Sofia, Duchess of Bavaria This work, created by the witty chronicler-painter Pasquale Mattej, “captures” an important historical event for the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies: the marriage of Francis II to Maria Sofia, Duchess of Bavaria, in the most iconic sacred site in Naples, the Cathedral of San Gennaro. Officially, the wedding was celebrated first in Germany and then in Bari, but the king inevitably wished to “replicate the ceremony before the Neapolitan people as well”—a sort of symbolic gesture of gratitude to what was, after all, the capital of the kingdom.