A Classical Roman Woman at a Fountain

Felice Giani was a prolific painter and draughtsman who decorated many palaces and public buildings in Rome, Venice, Emilia Romagna, and France. His style, as evidenced in this sheet, was distinctly Neoclassical, and he commonly chose subjects from the history or literature of Greece and Rome. For a drawing similar in style and handling, see for instance "Amore and Gelosia" in a private collection (Anna Ottani Cavina, Felice Giani (1758-1823) e la cultura di fine secolo. vol. 1. Milan, 1999, no. 23, p. 24).
This drawing presents a heavily draped, idealized woman in profile who fills an antique vase (or, amphora) with water from a fountain as a group of armed soldiers convene in the background. Her solemn expression and partially veiled face suggest that she is in mourning. The drawing was perhaps made in preparation for a decorative panel featuring a moment from Greek or Roman history. Similarly draped, historicized women appear in many of Giani's decorative cycles, such as the panels executed for the Sala dei Trionfi at the Palazzo Altieri in Rome (Anna Ottani Cavina, Felice Giani (1758-1823) e la cultura di fine secolo. vol. 2. Milan, 1999, no. 796-797, pp. 568-569). While this drawing was not included in Anna Ottani Cavani's monograph on the artist (1999), she supports the attribution and dates the sheet to ca. 1790-1800 (written correspondence, July 2010). Roberta Olson also supports the attribution to Felice Giani (written correspondence, July 2010).