XAVIER DELLA GATTA (LECCE 1758-AFTER 1828)

This is the work of Xavier (or Saverio) Della Gatta, an artist originally from Puglia who was active mainly in Naples. Della Gatta specialized in vedute and scenes of Neapolitan popular life which were in great demand among tourists traveling to the south of Italy. Another version of this drawing in a private collection is dated 1825 (see L. Fino, Pietro de Fabris and Saverio Della Gatta. Gouaches drawings and paintings, Naples, 2021, p. 118, fig. 127). A caption on the margin of that drawing reveals that the group of jolly peasants depicted here are on their way home from a feast at Montevergine, a small village near Naples.