Naples - Study Of Fishing Boats 

Roberto Rive captured this study of fishing boats in Naples with a camera, a relatively new technology at the time. Note how Rive groups these children around the vessels. This arrangement evokes the ancient symbol of the ship as a vessel of life, a motif stretching back to antiquity, seen in Egyptian funerary boats and Norse burial ships. Here, the boats are not sailing into the afterlife but are instead the backdrop for the daily life of these Neapolitan children. We observe how the children are arranged, with the figures at the boat looming over the sitting children. This conveys a sense of melancholy, mirroring humanity's timeless relationship with the sea: both a source of life and a reminder of mortality. Such images resonate through time, echoing in the works of artists like Caspar David Friedrich. In each instance, the sea evokes a deep, often subconscious emotional response, speaking to our primal connection with the natural world. This enduring motif continues to resurface, evolving yet retaining its core emotional power.