Lorenzo de' Ferrari Genoa 1680 - 1744 Genoa

This is a preparatory study, with some differences, for the fresco on the vault of the gallery in the Palazzo Spinola di Pellicceria, Genoa (fig. 1), painted circa 1734-36 (see E. Gavazza, Lo Spazio Dipinto, Genoa 1989, p. 374, fig. 570).  An indication of the decorative frame surrounding the fresco is also visible in the drawing.

Mary Newcome, in her entry on Lorenzo in The Dictionary of Art (London, 1996, vol. 11, pp. 10-11), notes that he travelled to Rome in 1734 and that this brief visit, with its exposure to the works of Conca, Benefial and Masucci, led to his developing a more Rococo style on his return to Genoa. She comments on the Venus and Bacchus and Cupid that it 'demonstrates this new festive style'.  Another drawing of Venus and Cupid, also related to the composition, was in the Suida Manning Collection (see E. Gavazza, op. cit., p. 374, fig. 571).