La Porta Capuana
Circa 1890–1900
Oil on canvas
31 x 22-1/2 in.
Private collection
A vestige of the medieval walls of Naples, the Capuana Gate still stands as a landmark in the Porta Capuana neighborhood today. It is located on the eastern terminus of Via Cesare Rosaroll, the street in Naples where my grandfather lived in 1906; he referred to the gate in his 1972 memoir. Presumably Donatus Buongiorno also knew this area and perhaps stayed nearby when he visited Naples.
This painting was owned by my grandfather and has descended in my family. Donatus Buongiorno may have created it for him as a keepsake of "the old country" or "home." Though my grandfather was an enthusiastic assimilator who never spoke Italian or pined for Italy, he did display this painting prominently in his home, so maybe his sentimentality was not buried as deeply as we allthought.
