Attr. Giovanni Battista Cipriani R.A 1727-1785 Anglo Italian School 18th.Century. Venus And Cupids. Red and black chalk on buff paper laid on card. 31.7 by 42.4 cms. Provenance: Swann Galleries New York 23/01/2003 Lot 141.
Born at Florence, Cipriani was bought to London in 1755 by the architect Sir William Chambers and the sculptor Joseph Wilton who had met him in Rome. He was employed in the decoration of many public and private houses and in some cases designed the architectural details such as the plasterwork, wall decoration, woodwork and stonecarving. Examples of his work are at Somerset House, where he worked for Chambers and in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a series of paintings originally executed for Robert Adam's Lansdowne House, London.
He was a foundation member of the Royal Academy designing it's Diploma. Ellis Waterhouse describes him as "One of the greatest backroom figures of the Neoclassic style in England."