S. Erasmo Gaeta

View of the church and bell tower of S. Erasmo, cathedral of the city of Gaeta.

Etching, 1844, signed and dated on the plate at lower right Achille Gigante 1844. 

Magnificent proof, printed on ivory laid paper, with margins, in excellent condition.

Achille Francesco Paolo Gigante, third son of Gaetano Gigante and Anna Maria Fatati, began in the wake of his elder brother Giacinto and soon distinguished himself in the execution of drawings and in particular of engravings, using with equal skill the etching and lithography, with which he participated in the great season of Neapolitan publishing, often engaged, at the same time as the representatives of the School of Posillipo, in the description and documentation of the surroundings of Naples. 

Sure of the technique of drawing and engraving he devoted himself extensively to both etching and lithography, qualifying among the best designers in the national field. His style, though close to that of his more famous brother Giacinto, is much more illustrative and refined with a soft and very thin drawing stroke that emphasizes even the smallest detail; his themes are those recurring in the Posillipo School, views of the Amalfi coast, of the Flegrea area and of the places surrounding the city of Naples. Friend of the painter Achille Vianelli, collaborated to illustrate the volumes published by Francesco Alvino, illustrated guides for the use of travelers: Due giorni a Capri in 1838, La penisola di Sorrento in 1842 and Viaggio da Napoli a Castellammare published in 1845, for the latter the Giant performed 42 engravings and that was inherited unfinished by Achille Vianelli. He performed the illustrations for the volumes of the Kingdom of Naples. Most of his work consists of drawings preserved in the collections Ferrara Dentice and Astarita, respectively, at the Museum of San Martino and Capodimonte in Naples.

Rare.