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Lot Essay
The episodes depicted come from the pastoral poem Il Pastor Fido (The Faithful Shepherd) by Giambattista Guarini (1538-1612).
A preparatory drawing for The crowning of Mirtillo -- signed and dated 1749 and with some slight variations -- is in the Kupferstichkabinet, Kunstmuseum, Basel (see Y. Boerlin-Brodbeck, in the catalogue of the exhibition, Zeichnungen des 18. Jahrhunderts aus dem Basler Kupferstichkabinet, Kunstmuseum, Basel, 1978-79, pp. 61-62, no. 122 and fig. 31). Boerlin-Brodbeck (loc. cit.) notes that two other drawings of scenes from the series are also in the Kupferstichkabinet and another is in the Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.
A preparatory drawing for The crowning of Mirtillo -- signed and dated 1749 and with some slight variations -- is in the Kupferstichkabinet, Kunstmuseum, Basel (see Y. Boerlin-Brodbeck, in the catalogue of the exhibition, Zeichnungen des 18. Jahrhunderts aus dem Basler Kupferstichkabinet, Kunstmuseum, Basel, 1978-79, pp. 61-62, no. 122 and fig. 31). Boerlin-Brodbeck (loc. cit.) notes that two other drawings of scenes from the series are also in the Kupferstichkabinet and another is in the Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.