MAGNIFICENT PANEL "SCENE OF POPULAR LIFE" by Pietro FABRIS ( - Lot 366

MAGNIFICENT PANEL "SCENE OF POPULAR LIFE" by Pietro FABRIS (act.1756-1792) Framed oil on canvas, circa 1770 Expert: Mr. Stefano Causa, professor of modern and contemporary art history at the "Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa", Naples. The work is accompanied by a study by Professor Stefano Causa. Provenance: Private collection Size: 116 x 94 cm Good condition Sold by designation Sotheby's, NY, United States, Lot 308 of January 28, 2016. Pietro Fabris was an Italian-born painter active in England and Naples. He is best known for his work for the amateur geologist and diplomat Sir William Hamilton. Among his other works for sale, he painted Bamboccianti scenes, genre paintings depicting local people in traditional costume, at work or at play. Fabris' biography in French is poorly documented. We suspect that he was born in England to a Venetian-trained theatrical decorator named Jacobo Fabris. Pietro, as a young man, was sponsored by the diplomat Hamilton to accompany him and reproduce visually for him on his escapades to visit the volcanic sites of Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius and the Lipari Islands. His paintings and drawings were exhibited in 1768 at the London Free Society and in 1772 at the London Society of Artists of Great Britain. Fabris met the painter Antonio Joli in Naples.