A Siesta in Sunshine

Rubens Santoro 1859 - 1942

Summary

Four people are having a siesta on a beach: one of the figures is seated, resting his back against a boat; the other three are lying down. The sea is flat calm, the sky is almost cloudless and we can tell from the near absence of shadows that the sun is directly overhead. There is no other sign of life in this torrid heat of early afternoon in southern Italy. The view includes, on the left, the ruins of the Palazzo Donn' Anna (or Medina). It was designed by Cosimo Fanzago for Donn' Anna Carafa and her husband the Duke of Medina, the Spanish Viceroy, whom she married in 1638. Building began in 1642, but ceased on the Viceroy's return to Spain two years later, and the Palace was never completed. Santoro was born in Mongrassano, Calabria, in 1859. He studied under his father Giovanni Battista (1809-1895) and briefly attended the Istituto di Belle Arti in Naples. He achieved great success in his native Italy, Paris and London with his marine and genre subjects.