Francesco De Sanctis, one of the most important figures of Italian literature, came to the Nunziatella as a professor of literature April 19, 1841, thanks to the influence of Basilio Puoti, who was inspector to studies. At that time the letters kept private courses of grammar and literature in Vico Bisi. The influence of De Sanctis was naturally great on young cadets, but this process was neither simple nor immediate, as in the early years of teaching, as reported by his student Nicola Marselli, De Sanctis was the laughing stock of his students. However, things changed thanks to the great teaching skills of De Sanctis, to the point that when he was teaching students from other classes came to hear.