(b Trapani, 19 March 1760; d Rome, 16 Feb 1821). Italian painter. His father was a merchant in animal skins, and because of his habit of drawing on the hides Giuseppe was nicknamed ‘guastacuoi’. He had a period of apprenticeship with the sculptor Domenico Nolfo in Trapani and continued his studies in Palermo with the painter Padre Fedele da S Biagio (1717–1801) and later with Gioacchino Martorana. On returning to Trapani, he painted the picture the Virgin of Carmel Liberating the Souls in Purgatory. After a brief stay in Naples he moved to Rome, where, under the protection of Canova, he studied perspective and architectural drawing with the architect Giuseppe Barberi (1749–1809). Errante became moderately prosperous because he also executed miniatures, as well as making copies of—and restoring—Old Master paintings.