Pietro Fabris

1740–1792

Pietro Fabris (active 1740, 1792) was a painter of Italian descent, active in England and Naples. Pietro is best known for work he completed for the dilettante geologist, the diplomat Sir William Hamilton, which included a number of engravings based on his paintings that depicted contemporary volcanic activity collected in two books, Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, &c. (London, 1774) and Campi Phlegraei: Observations on the Volcanoes of the Two Sicilies (Naples, 1776). In other works he produced for sale, he painted Bamboccianti scenes, genre paintings of local folk in native garb at work or play. The biography of Fabris is poorly documented.