Pietro Fabris

With Frost & Reed, London;
With Matthiesen Gallery, London;
With Samuel Botero & Associates, New York, from whom purchased in 1983 by the present collector. 

N. Spinosa, Pittura napoletana del Settecento, Naples 1987, p. 163, cat. no. 310, reproduced fig. 410 (as incorrectly dated 1792).

The following condition report has been provided by David Bull of Teresa Longyear David Bull Fine Art Conservation and Restoration, Inc. 173 East 80th St. New York, NY 212-439-1659, david@fineartconservation.net, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is considered to be in good condition. The canvas has been relined with an aqueous adhesive, probably some 20 years ago. It is in very stable condition with no present cleavage or flaking. The majority of the paint is in very good condition. There are some paint losses that are covered by retouching. These are located on the upper left edge, the lower left edge and some places along the left edge. Within the main area of the composition there are a few scattered losses that have been retouched. A number of old, tiny flake losses are located on the left side of the painting, in a vertical band approximately 3 inches wide. The surface is covered by slightly discolored varnish.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Despite his considerable output of paintings depicting Neapolitan landscapes and scenes of  daily life, as well as prints and drawings of costume, topographical and geological studies, Pietro Fabris remains a somewhat elusive figure.  His inital training is unknown, but works by him are dated as early as the mid-1750's (two of a set of four canvases with figures dancing and making merry are dated on the reverse 1756 and 1757, see All'Ombra di Vesuvio, Naples, 1990, p. 383, reproduced p. 231).  From early in his career he occasionally signed himself as an "English" artist, and he even exhibited works in London at the Free Society and the Society of Artsts (1768 and 1772), although his style and subject matter remained resolutely Neapolitan.  Despite this, it is still unclear if in fact his heritage was indeed British, or simply that most of his patrons and artistic associates were. 

Fabris' colorful palette and lively compositions, most often celebrations of the daily life of the city and its surroundings, had obvious appeal to the grand tourists who visited Naples; but his greatest patron and supporter by far was Sir William Hamilton, the British ambassador.  Hamilton, in fact, took the artist on a trip with him to Sicily in 1769, and worked with him on a number of projects, most famously the Campi phlegraei, a vulcanological study of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, for which Fabris produced almost sixty illustrations, as Hamilton noted "under my own eye, and by my direction, with the utmost fidelity."¹ Paintings by Fabris also featured in Hamilton's impressive art collection, which included masterpieces by Velazquez, van Dyck, Teniers, Giordano and other artists, all housed in his residence at the Palazzo Sessa, Naples.²  In fact, a recently rediscoverd depiction of the Festival of the Madonna dell'Arco from the Hamilton collection was sold in these rooms (January 23, 2003, lot 112).

The present canvas is typical of Fabris' work, and is amongst the largest. It depicts local people preparing to embark on the short journey to the shrine of the Madonna dell'Arco, at the foot of Vesuvius.The festival was one of the most important events in the Neapolitan religious calendar and was held on Pasquetta (Easter Monday) each year.  By the 17th Century the event had taken on a fair-like atmosphere, with locals all converging on the church and stopping along the way to eat, dance and play music, as depicted in the present canvas.  The two figures holding castanets and dancing the tarantella just to the left of center of the composition, relate to a drawing by Fabris in a private collection (see fig. 1).

1.  see J. Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, New Haven and London 1997, p. 455.
2.  see C. Knight, "La Quadreria di Sir William Hamilton a Palazzo Sessa," in Napoli Nobilissima, Jan-April 1985, vol. XXIV, fasc. I-II.