Giuseppe De Nittis (February 25, 1846 – August 21, 1884) was one of the most important Italian painters of the 19th century, whose work merges the styles of Salon art and Impressionism. Biography De Nittis was born in Barletta, in the region of Apulia, where he lived with his family in the wealthiest district of the city near the intersection of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the Corso Garibaldi, just around the corner from the birthplace of another famous painter and contemporary, Geremia Discanno. Barletta at the time of the Bourbons, and in particular during the reign of Ferdinand II, nicknamed the "Bomb King" for having his own subjects cannonaded, was an extremely class-oriented city and those who could afford it gathered regularly near De Nittis' home beneath the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher with its bronze Colossus of Heraclius in front. Situated on the Adriatic coast, Barletta's port thrived as a point of embarkation for the privileged travelling to or returning from the east. His father, Raffaele, was a wealthy landowner who could afford to send his son to study under Giovanni Battista Calò, who tutored other notable Barlettan painters including Vincenzo De Stefano, Giuseppe Gabbiani, and Raffaele Girondi. But, Raffaele was publicly outspoken in his opposition to the Bourbon monarchy and support for the unification of Italy, so was imprisoned for two years. Still, Giuseppe managed to gain admittance to the Reale Instituto di Belle Arti, a university-level art school in Naples founded by King Charles VII of Naples in 1752. Like his father, though, Giuseppe openly spoke his mind, resulting in his expulsion from the Institute in 1863 for insurbordination. After his expulsion, he launched his career with the exhibition of two paintings at the 1864 Neapolitan Promotrice. De Nittis came into contact with some of the artists known as the Macchiaioli, becoming friends with Telemaco Signorini and exhibiting in Florence. He also renewed his acquaintance with his former neighbor, Geremia Discanno, and both De Nittis and Discanno exhibited in Turin in 1867 and sold work there. In 1867 he moved to Paris and entered into a contract with the art dealer Adolphe Goupil, which called for him to produce saleable genre works. After gaining some visibility by exhibiting at the Salon he returned to Italy where, feeling free to paint from nature, he produced several views of Vesuvius. In 1872 De Nittis returned to Paris and,