Paolo Farinati

Probably Sir Peter Lely, London;

Probably his posthumous sale, London, Richard Tompson, 16 April 1688 onwards;

William Gibson, (circa 1644-1703 [Richmond-upon-Thames [Surrey]]), London (with his inscription and price code on the verso);

Sale, London, Sotheby's, 2 July 1997, lot 99;

Sale, Berlin, Galerie Bassenge, 30 November 2006, lot 5508;

Private Collection, Austria;

With Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, London;

From whom acquired, 2013.

This energetic and dynamic portrayal of the figure of Galatea, within a drawn niche, is a strong example of Farinati’s distinctive draughtsmanship. Depicted riding on a scalloped shell, pulled by a dolphin, the sea nymph’s drapery billows around her as she holds the reins of her mollusc chariot.  Her movement and animation are cleverly contrasted by the confinement of her faux architectural setting. Similar in conception to a fresco of another mythological female figure, now in the Museo Civico, Verona, it may relate to a series of frescoed female figures in niches for a painted mural decoration for a villa or palace.¹

The numbering, on the verso of this sheet, reveals a price code established by the English miniature painter and collector, William Gibson ( circa 1664-1703). Gibson, who was a pupil of Sir Peter Lely, and in fact often copied his works, was among the distinguished collectors who acquired a number of works from Lely’s auction of drawings in 1688 (see Provenance).

1.  F. dal Forno, Paolo Farinati, Verona 1965, fig. 59