The painting is a recent entry in Paolini's catalogue and can be dated to his youthful period. It is a hermetic image that is difficult to interpret, as is typical for the artist, in which perhaps we can recognise an ideal portrait of Lesbia; the woman unluckily loved by Catullus and celebrated by the poet in his poems.
N. DE VERNEJOUL, Pietro Paolini : 1603-1681 : peintre caravagesque de l'étrange, Paris 2024, P. 13, p. 183, ripr. pp. 40, 57 (with previous literatures). PROVENANCE: Bordeaux, Briscadieu, 18 October 2003, lot no. 11 (attributed to Angelo Caroselli); Milan, Koelliker Collection, inv. LK1109 (as by Pietro Paolini). EXHIBITIONS: Pontedera, Museo Piaggio, 2005, no. 53 (as by Pietro Paolini); Ariccia, Palazzo Chigi, 2006-2007, no. 44 (as by Pietro Paolini); Naples, Santa Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta, 2016-2017, no. 37 (as by Pietro Paolini).
