Self-portrait

Giuseppe Bonito was a Naples painter, trained in the busy studio of Francesco Solimena, the leading Neapolitan master of his day. He built his career at the Bourbon court with royal portraits and official commissions, and later directed the city's academy. He worked too in a lighter vein, small scenes of ordinary street life that collectors liked. In this self-portrait he presents himself turned toward the viewer, dressed as the established court professional he had become. The picture entered the Uffizi's gallery of artists' self-portraits, where painters from across Italy and beyond each supplied their own face to the collection.