Nymphs and satyrs in a wooded landscape

Locatelli received his first artistic training in the studio of his father, Giovanni Francesco, in the Trastevere, Rome. In 1715, having worked for three little known painters -Mons Alto, Bernardino Fergioni, and Biagio Puccini- Locatelli was commissioned to decorate a room in the Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome, the first of several important decorative schemes that he was to execute. However, despite these instances of patronage, it was primarily as a painter of easel pictures that Locatelli made his name. These were sought after not only by distinguished Roman patrons, but also by an international clientele amongst whom he was renowned for his idyllic views of the Campagna.

It was common practice for Roman landscapists of the period to have the staffage painted by another hand. Busiri Vici, loc. cit., points out that that is the case in this picture, although the particular artist responsible remains as yet unidentified.