William Anderson (1757-1837)

A British Naval Squadron of the Red at anchor off Leghorn, Italy, with some of the ships’ officers ashore fraternising with the local inhabitants
oil on canvas
24 x 35 3/4 in. (61 x 90.8 cm.)

Provenance:
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 20 February 1920, Lot 36.

Sold for: £60.18.0 [58gns.]

‘Leghorn’, today known as Livorno, is a port city located on the west coast of northern Italy, in the region of Tuscany. The decline of Pisa as a functioning port and Leghorn’s rise to city status, saw it emerge as the main port in Tuscany by the beginning of the 17th Century. During the 1580’s Leghorn was granted ‘porto Franco’ which meant no duty was paid on goods. In addition to this, the introduction of new laws called the called ‘Leggi Livornine’ promoted a more liberal society, particularly beneficial to trading activities and merchants from all backgrounds and cultures. In this way Leghorn became a significant hub of Mediterranean trade owing to its strategic position near the Black Sea, Mediterranean and North Atlantic. In effect it was a crossroads between the Eastern, Muslim world and Western Europe. However, the arrival of the Napoleonic Wars significantly affected Leghorn’s economy, particularly as trade with Britain was prohibited. This picture thought to date around the 1780s, depicts a British Naval Squadron of the Red, who visited the port frequently during the late 18th century due to the importance of the Mediterranean to Britain’s trade assets.