Completed British 19th C, except portraits, Continental European after 1800, Scotland: Artists and Subjects 18 Could this be the Santuario Santa Rosalia?

Attached are two images of the 'Shrine of Santa Rosalia, on Monte Pelegrino', the first being a steel engraving, from 1840, by R. Brandard after a picture by William Leighton Leitch, which was published in "Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book" (1840). Neither of these attached images of the interior of the shrine bears any particular resemblance to this discussion's image.

The Wikipedia entry for Leitch states: "After exhibiting two drawings at the Society of British Artists in 1832, he (Leitch) travelled to the continent in 1833, passing through the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland to Italy. While in Venice he met and became friends with the Hungarian painter, Miklós Barabás; They toured and painted in the Lago Maggiore region in 1834, and Leitch was a great influence on Barabás's future work. After an absence of four years, during which Leitch supported himself mainly by teaching, and had visited the principal cities of Italy, and made numerous sketches there and in Sicily, he returned to London in July 1837."

This raises an interesting question. Was Thomas Stuart Smith influenced by the Italian drawings and engravings by Leitch, following the latter's return from Italy in 1837, and prior to Smith's departure for there in the early 1840s?

It has already been shown that the work by Smith, at the following link, bears an uncanny resemblance to a work by Leitch which was engraved by J. H. Le Keux (see attached composite):

https://www.artuk.org/artdetective/discussions/discussions/can-you-identify-this-piazza-painted-by-thomas-stuart-smith

Additionally, there is a steel engraving, based on a work by Leitch, which also bears a resemblance to the work by Smith to be found at the following link. It will be observed that there are some architectural elements missing from Leitch's work that are present in Smith's, indicating a passage of time between the completion of each (see attached composite):

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/behind-the-cathedral-at-palermo-127647/view_as/grid/search/keyword:stuart-smith-cathedral/page/1

Regarding this discussions painting, Leitch's interior would have been executed before his return to London in 1837, and Smith's after his arrival in Italy in 1840. The shrine depicted in this image is much less developed than that as shown in Leitch's earlier work. The conclusion must be that this picture represents a different location.

The final image, of the Archbishop's Palace & Cathedral, Palermo, as painted by Smith and by Leitch, did not attach. Here it is, hopefully.

The scene depicted by Thomas Stuart Smith in this discussion is the grotto or sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel, in the cave system in the village of Saint Angelo a Fasanella, which is located in the mountains about 50 miles south east of the city of Salerno. The clothing, and especially the headdresses, of the women depicted, are typical of the folk costumes of the Salerno region.

Attached is a drawing by Achille Vianelli (21 December 1803 – 2 April 1894), showing an almost identical perspective of the shrine. A Google Images search for this artist will reveal that he was travelling throughout the same regions as Thomas Stuart Smith during the 1840s, and drawing many of the same locations.

Interestingly, Wikipedia says of Vianelli that "In 1819, he moved to Naples, where he first worked in the Royal Topographic Office, where he met Giacinto Gigante. With Gigante, he began training first under Jakob Wilhelm Hüber, then in the Academy under Pitloo. He published (with Gigante and others) a series of lithographs in a Viaggio pittorico nel Regno delle Due Sicilie (1829–1834). In 1848, he moved to Benevento (ninety miles north of Salerno), where he continued drawing and painting. He married Gigante's sister, and vice versa, and is considered a member of the School of Posillipo."

It is entirely possible that Thomas Stuart Smith, Achille Vianelli and Giacinto Gigante travelled together, or certainly knew or know of each other. Gigante is known to have stayed in the Amalfi hotel that is mentioned in the following discussion of another of Smith's works.

https://www.artuk.org/artdetective/discussions/discussions/are-these-views-by-thomas-stuart-smith-looking-east-towards-the-bay-of-naples/search/keywords:thomas-stuart-smith

For comparative clarity, here are the two works, by Smith and Vianelli, side by side.

Kieran's discoveries make it abundantly clear that it would be profitable to compare the pencil drawings by the Gigante brothers in the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow with the works by Thomas Stuart Smith in Stirling . It would be very good if experts on the Scuola di Posilippo in Naples could be involved as well.

It might be worth looking at Lord Francis Napier, Notes on modern painting at Naples,London 1855 and his 1853 Della pittura napoletana nel 1852. One wonders if the drawings in the Hunterian which were acquired in a Scottish [perhaps Edinburgh ] auction came from his collection.
The Wellcome Library has a volume of etchings by the Gigante brothers and Vianelli of 1843 'Places in the Kingdom of Naples'
The British Library has a copy of the catalogue Inediti di Achille Vianelli, Museo del Sannio, Benevento, 1983
There is also Pier Luigi de Giacomo, Pausilypon: dipinti della Scuola di Posillipo, Castel Maggiore, 2003 and Silvia Cassani and Maria Sapio, 19th century landscape painting in Naples: Giacinto Gigante e la Scuola di Posillipo, Electa, Naples, 2000

Baron Napier was Secretary of the British Legation in Naples from 1848 and was acting Ambassador for 18 months. The family seat was Thirlestaine Castle, north of Berwick.

While not wanting to disparage the talent of Smith, is there a possibility that some of the very many drawings, watercolours and paintings attributed to him, in the Stirling Smith Gallery & Museum, could be not by Smith himself, but could have been collected by him, as works by the hands of others, during his travels in Italy?

Also, it would be most important that any investigation into the relationship between Gigante, Vianelli and Thomas Stuart Smith, does not confuse the latter with John 'Warwick' Smith (1749 - 1831), who is mentioned in several Italian-language works on the topographical art of Italy.

It might be worth noting that, for several of Giacinto Gigante's Italian drawings and paintings, from the mid-1830s through to the early 1860s, there are many portrayals of other artists within his scenes, both male and female, who are drawing or sketching the particular locations that he has featured. This is a clear indication that Gigante's travelled with other artists while making his own works. Research in Italian archives might show that Smith was one of these.

At the link
http://www.cromosema.it/ars/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=130:achille-vianelli&catid=51:scuola-di-posillipo&Itemid=108
I found this watercolor by Achille Vianelli.
The caption speaks of the church of Santa Rosalia in Palermo, but it is a mistake.
This is the church of the Savior of Benevento.
Can someone help me to understand where this watercolor is?
thank you
Emilio Colloca – Benevento - Italy
colloca1@interfree.it

For the purposes of answering this discussion's initial question, as pointed out above the scene depicted here is of the sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel, in the cave system in the village of Saint Angelo a Fasanella, near Salerno. If this identification is acceptable, perhaps Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum will consider amending the title of the work.

already have. its pending.

Many thanks.

In order to formally conclude this discussion I am happy to recommend that Kieran's identification of this grotto as the "sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel, in the cave system in the village of Saint Angelo a Fasanella, .... 50 miles south east of the city of Salerno" be accepted.

Thanks, everyone. As this painting record has already been updated, I will now close this discussion.