Rough side of the city: Thomas Jones's A Wall in Naples
This raw rectangle of wall, with patches of old plaster clinging to rough stones, windows shuttered against the Mediterranean light, and washing hanging down like flimsy entrails, was painted in Naples in about 1782 by the Welsh landscape artist Thomas Jones. British artists went to Italy in the 18th century to chase patrons among the gilded aristocrats for whom a Grand Tour was de rigueur. In this masterpiece, Jones preserves a timeless chunk of unvarnished and unprivileged life Illustration: The National Gallery, London
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