Oil on canvas, 39cm by 69cm.
‘The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1767’ is written on the reverse of the painting in the distinctive hand of Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793).
A later addition to the 1763 Burghley Inventory records: ‘Breakfast room …..a picture of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 1767 by Fabris.’
Fabris is best known for his work for the diplomat and amateur geologist Sir William Hamilton.
He commissioned the artist to accompany him to visually record his visits to the volcanic sites of Mounts Etna and Vesuvius and the island of Lipari near Sicily.
