Johann Carl Loth

A unidentifiable fragment of a collector's mark, lower right

Laid down. In excellent condition, the media strong and fresh.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This is presumably a design for the decoration of a ceiling.  It cannot be related to a surviving work by Loth.  Another very similar study for a section of a ceiling decoration representing the death of Dido is in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, in Paris (inv. no. 0.1347).¹ It is possible that both drawings are preparatory for the same project, now lost or never executed.  A drawing of The Triumph of Neptune, similar style and technique and also for a ceiling, was sold in these Rooms, 14 January 1992, lot 154.
We are grateful to Dr. Paul Taylor for identifying the subject, which comes from Virgil's Aeneid, book III, lines 219 ff.  It describes the moment when the Trojan prince Aeneas and his fleet landed on the Ionic islands, the Strophades, and were attacked by the Harpies who had been driven there from the table of Phineus, the king of Thrace. 

1. See Disegni Veneti dell'Ecole des Beaux-Arts di Parigi, exhibition catalogue, Venice, Fondazione Cini, 1988, p. 47, no. 40, reproduced fig. 40