(1696–1770)
Studies of satyrs and a female faun, two drawings, pen and brown ink, brown wash, on laid paper, each 22 x 34 cm, fixed to cardboard support, mounted, framed, (2), (Sch)

Provenance:
Private collection, Italy.

The present two drawings are connected with studies which Giovanni Battista Tiepolos executed in preparation for his frescos in the Palazzo Clerici in Milan. In 1741 Antonio Giorgio Clerici, a marshal of Empress Maria Theresia, assigned the decoration of the palace’s gallery to the artist. The paintings in the ceiling of the hall which is 22m long show various mythological characters and scenes from ancient history. Apollo in his sun chariot is depicted in the center. He is surrounded by various river gods and sea creatures, allegories of the four continents and the arts and other mythological figures such as satyrs, fauns and nymphs. The two figures of the present drawing which represent a faun and a female faun with a cornucopia are copies or variations of a drawing by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, which was once kept in the Horne Foundation in Florence (see Detlev von Hadeln, The Drawings of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Vol. I, Paris 1928). The present sheets may have been made by a pupil in the workshop of Tiepolo after a design by Giovanni Domenico or could have been executed by a later follower.

We are grateful to Dr. Adelheid M. Gealt for the scientific support.