Author: Unknown printmaker (XIX century)
Title: Woodcut/Houtsnede: Fra Diavolo, oder die grossen rauber in den Abruzzen.
Description: Representation of one of the battles conduced by Michele Arcangelo Pezza, also known as Fra Diavolo, at the end of the eighteenth century. He was a famous Neapolitan guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an inspirational practitioner of popular insurrection. Pezza figures prominently in folklore and fiction. He appears in several works of Alexandre Dumas, including The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-hermine in the Age of Napoleon, not published until 2007 and in Washington Irving's short story The Inn at Terracina. His nick-name ´Fra Diavolo´ (litterally Brother Devil) was given to him when he was a young boy. Soon after he was born he became sick. His mother swore to St. Francis of Paola that he would take care of his sick son. In return the child would have been wearing a sackcloth until complete consumption. Michele recovered so during his childhood he wore the sackcloth. Once at school his unsettled behavior made his teacher pronounce such words as:´You are not Friar Michele Arcangelo! You are Friar Devil!´. Thence he was renown with such a name throughout his all life. This large woodcut was probably an image of a popular publication from Ulm or Nurenberg from around 1830. In the typical and somewhat primitive style of the popular graphic arts from the first half of the nineteenth century. Titled above:´Fra Diavolo, oder die grossen rauber in den Abruzzen.´ Woodcut on paper; total: 395 x 470 mm; brown stain on he top left corner otherwise in very good conditions.

Keywords: Criminality|Historical prints