This drawing is from a series of about a hundred sheets depicting centaurs, fauns and satyrs in landscape settings. Some of the drawings are related to the frescoes that Domenico painted for the Ca'Rezzonico in Venice while others are connected with the Pulchinello series. These date from the latter part of the artist's career. The present drawing is part of the largest group catalogued by Cailleux: with Nessus seducing a female faun, rather than Deianeira.
Other drawings from this series are in New York (J. Bean and W. Griswold, 18th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, nos. 248, 250-9, illustrated), in Princeton (F. Gibbons, Catalogue of Italian Drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton, 1977, nos. 269-73, illustrated) and in the British Museum.