Pietro Fabris, 
Italian/British fl.1740-1804- 
Illustrations for William Hamilton’s Campi...

Pietro Fabris, 
Italian/British fl.1740-1804- 

Illustrations for William Hamilton’s Campi Phlegraei (1776–79); 

hand-coloured etchings, each approx.19.7 x 37.8 cm., twelve (12). 

Provenance: 
Private Collection, UK. 

Note: 
This lot consists of the present works: The Fossa Grande of Mount Vesuvius, showing the deep hollow ways cut by torrents of rainwater; Tufa at the bottom of the crater of Monte Nuovo near Pozzuoli, formed in a volcanic eruption in 1538; Mount Vesuvius in winter, covered with snow; The Island of Ischia seen from the sea, showing volcanic features; The discovery of the temple of Isis at Pompeii, buried under pumice and other volcanic matter; Mount Vesuvius: a volcanic eruption at the foot of the mountain, 1760-1761, causing the destruction of the land and property; Lacco (Lacco Ameno), on the island of Ischia composed of volcanic tufa, with other islands raised by volcanic eruptions: view at sunset; The crater of Monte Gauro or Barbaro (right), with other volcanic features in the background; A bird's eye view from the convent of the Camaldoli, the highest ground near Naples; The Lake of Agnano, evidently the crater of an ancient volcano; Mount Vesuvius from the sea shore above Resina; The cone of Astruni, showing volcanic matter. 

Fabris was employed by Hamilton (1730–1803), Envoy Extraordinary to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, to produce illustrations for his 'Campi Phlegræi: Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies', an influential work documenting the volcanic landscape of Naples.