Johann Wenzel Peter Carlsbad 1742 - 1829 Rome

With the Tryon Gallery, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 11 July 2001, lot 49, where acquired by the present owner.

Originally from Carlsbad, Peter emigrated to Rome in 1774, where he initially practised as a sculptor before turning to painting. By 1812, when he was elected Professore of the Accademia di San Luca, he had achieved a reputation as a painter of animals and counted among his patrons the Earl of Bristol, the Torlonia family and Prince Borghese, for whom he decorated the interior of the Casino of the Villa Borghese. His largest work, an Earthly Paradise, was acquired by Pope Gregory XIII after his death and is now in the Vatican.