Lot 71: JOHANN HEINRICH KELLER (Zurich 1692-1765 The Hague)

Mirtillo playing Blindman's buff with Amarillis; and The crowning of Mirtillo the second signed and dated 'JHKeller.Pinxit/1751' (on the plinth) oil on canvas 181/4 x 211/4 in (46.4 x 54 cm.) two (2) NOTES 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.