Lot 128: Lelio Orsi , Novellara 1511 - 1587 a sea nymph with many figures and sea creatures Pen and brown ink; bears number of the back: No. 54

Pen and brown ink; bears number of the back: No. 54

measurements note 275 by 410 mm

Garnier (L.1067)

The subject of this drawing might be the Triumph of Galatea, but the writhing figures and atmosphere of drama are reminiscent of Orsi's frescoes of a mythological flood in which the same seahorses and figures blowing conch shells are tossed on waves. Those frescoes, now detached and in the Galleria Estense, Modena, were painted for the Rocca at Novellara in 1552-54.υ1 The eccentric subject matter and composition, and the refined use of pen, are characteristic of Orsi's work. 1. See Lelio Orsi, exhibition catalogue, Reggio Emilia, Teatro Valli, 1987-88, nos. 65-68