Xavier della Gatta | A collection of 13 gouache drawings of Neapolitan life

Xavier della Gatta

A collection of 13 gouache drawings of Neapolitan life

Gouache within black framing lines, two signed and dated 1820

Each approximately 210 x 150, mounted

Subjects include: a peasant family (signed and dated); a woman carrying eggs (signed and dated); itinerant traders; musicians; a family on horseback; people dancing and playing musical instruments, and so on.

Xavier della Gatta, or sometimes called Saverio della Gatta, was a Neapolitan painter active in the 18th and early part of the 19th century. He is recorded as having studied under the tutelage of Jacopo Cestaro in 1777 at the drawing academy in Naples. He is best known for gouache paintings of Naples; its terrain, people and culture. Della Gatta worked for both the court and for the visiting tourists. In 1782 he was commissioned by the King of Naples to produce costume designs depicting the different dress and attire of the various provinces.

This group demonstrates both Della Gatta's ability to capture the Neapolitan people and his mastery of the medium of gouache, creating images that are bursting with colour and vibrancy and leaving no doubt as to why he was such a popular artist for tourists on the Grand Tour.