17th Century French sanguine drawing of maiden s harvesting flowers

Attributed to John Flaxman (British, 1755- 1826) Study of a classical maiden Pen and ink on paper 5.1/2 x 3.1/8 in. (14 x 8 cm.)

Edward Ridley (British, 1883-1946) An oblong design featuring ivy in blossom Gouache 10.5/8 x 4.3/8 in. (27 x 11.2 cm.) This design was one of 5 submitt...

A fine Italian watercolor and sepia drawing, an allegory of summer. People harvesting, eating and drinking in a hilly landscape, probably by Antonio Grano (c.1669-1718). In the fron...

This magnificent drawing from the Venetian Renaissance intrigues us in many ways. It depicts an allegorical composition whose meaning partly escapes us: a veiled figure seated on a stone bench (which we have identified as Chastity), seems to be turning away from a woman's bust beside her, below which are two rabbits, a traditional allegory of fertility, but also sometimes of lust. This drawing, executed on blue paper, undoubtedly belongs to the Venetian Renaissance. The inscriptions on the back of the old mounting board indicate the various attributions considered by its last owner, the British painter and art historian Sir Lawrence Gowing. We have retained the attribution to Giuseppe Porta proposed by art historian John Arthur Gere as the most relevant. We were incredibly fortunate to find a hexagonal frame of a very similar format for this drawing, the upper corners of which were formerly cut (irregularly). This 17th-century Dutch frame comes from an aristocratic collection in Lombardy, and creates a kind of fascinating chase around this Venetian drawing...