Oil on canvas, unlined, 38cm by 28cm. Signed l.l. Fabris.P.
The 1763 Burghley Inventory records: ‘Breakfast room … 4 paintings by Fabris representing the lower class of Italians.’
The artist is best known for his work for the diplomat and amateur geologist Sir William Hamilton.
He commissioned Fabris to accompany him on visits to the volcanic sites of Mounts Etna and Vesuvius and the island of Lipari, near Sicily, to visually record them.
However, as here, he also painted genre scenes of local people at work and at play and wearing traditional costume.
