Mantuan School, 16th century

with Armando Neerman, London, March 1974;

Herbert List (1903-1975), Hambourg (L.4063, bears his mark twice);

Wolfgang Ratjen (1943-1997), Münich;

sale, London, Sotheby's, 5 July 2006, lot 44;

where acquired

Munich, Staatliche Graphisches Sammlung, et al., Italienische Zeichnungen des 16. -18. Jahrhunderts: Eine Austellung zum Andenken an Herbert List, 1977-78, pp. 86-7, cat. 37, reproduced (as Circle of Luca Penni)

The drawing depicts a story taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book V: Ceres, goddess of agriculture, fertility, and motherly relationships, was searching for her daughter and came to the house of an old lady, variously called Metanira or Melaninia, and asked for a drink. As she was drinking, the old lady's son, Abas, laughed at the goddess's greediness, so she threw the jug at him and changed him into a lizard.

There are strong echoes of the work of Giulio Romano and Luca Penni in the style of this drawing, but it has not been possible to identify any related composition.