Lot Essay
The subject here is attributed to the Bohemian-born animal and portrait painter Wenceslaus Peter (d. 1829), who worked in Rome from 1774 until his death. Widely patronised by Roman aristocracy, Peter was commissioned by Prince Marcantonio Borghese to decorate the entrance hall of Villa Borghese with a series of 162 animal paintings. Peter's fame was such that within his own lifetime his paintings were copied into a variety of media, most notably micromosaics. This subject, in addition to other paintings of the same taste by Peter, was frequently repeated by mosaicists working in Rome in the early 19th century.