And then there is the eternal vision of Naples and its Vesuvius. From the 18th century, from the drawings of Tischbein and the Posillipo School to Warhol, Vesuvius has become the historical double of the city. Few cities in the world are so intimately symbolised by a volcano: if Mount Fuji evokes Japan, Vesuvius evokes not Italy, but Naples. In this work, the rain of fireworks turns into a rain of silver, a veil of white light stretched before the spectacle of the city – like a curtain of silk, of lace, seemingly about to part and reveal the landscape behind it. Yet this curtain also divides: it separates the lake of fire, the Mediterranean, from the city that stretches beyond. The sea is red, orange, black: nothing remains of its clear daytime blue.The effect is astonishing: it seems as though that luminous veil comes from the boats in the harbour. An extraordinary image, which superimposes a new dimension on traditional iconography, one that is emotional, spectacular, theatrical, perhaps the true theatre of Naples.Napex 233052

Sylvain Bellenger