Departure of Charles of Bourbon for Spain, seen from the Harbour

The date is 6 October 1759, and the fleet in the bay is waiting for one passenger. Charles of Bourbon had ruled Naples for 25 years. His half-brother Fernando the Sixth died in Madrid that August without children, and Charles was now king of Spain, so he was sailing away from a kingdom he had rebuilt to take one he barely knew. He left his third son behind on the Neapolitan throne, a boy of eight, with a regency council to govern for him. Joli was working in Naples and painted the day twice, once from the water and once from here, on the inner harbour, with the crowds packed along the quay. Vesuvius is smoking on the left behind the lighthouse of the mole.