Bernardo Hay

Born from a relationship between the British artist Jane Benham Hay and the Apulian painter Francesco Saverio Altamura, he received the name of the English artist William Hay who at birth was his mother's husband and therefore Bernardo Hay obtained English citizenship.

The parents met in Florence, where Jane Benhan had been staying for some years for reasons of study and training, and Saverio Altamura followed in the footsteps of the Macchiaioli painters, attracted by the potential of outdoor painting. They offered their son his first art lessons.

Bernardo Hay moved to Naples with his parents while still a child and in 1875 he presented his first studies of his life to the promoter "Salvator Rosa". His natural father took him as an assistant in the church of San Nicola da Tolentino, the walls of the presbytery were in fact frescoed by Saverio Altamura and Bernardo Hay, with subjects related to the Madonna of Lourdes and her apparitions.

Bernardo Hay devoted himself particularly to landscape, adhering to the Neapolitan landscape style of the time and painting canvases with a rich, bright and varied palette. He preferred views in broad daylight. Until 1890 he participated in the exhibitions of the promoter "Salvator Rosa" and presented works at various exhibitions.

After a long stay in Venice, where he painted views of canals and the lagoon, he moved to Capri in 1891. On Capri, Bernardo Hay painted the most frequented and popular places, such as Marina Grande.