Within its original frame, it is signed in the lower left corner, on the bed, with the date 1792 and a reference to the city of Rome, a fact that links the painting to the important friendship and protection of Antonio Canova towards his fellow countryman, who had just returned from his stay in Naples and was about to leave for London.
Bibliography: E. Lucchese, in Antonio Canova e il Neoclassicismo a Lucca, edited by V. Sgarbi, Laurenzana 2023; E. Lucchese, Roma 1792. Domenico Pellegrini e Canova, pittori di Venere, in press. Exhibitions: Lucca, Cavallerizza, 2023-2024.
