Oil on canvas, 26.5cm by 37cm. In a carved and gilded frame. Signed l.l.: FL. A pair to PIC477.
The painting was purchased by John, 5th Earl of Exeter (1648-1700), whilst on the Grand Tour and appears in the 1688 Burghley Inventory.
The later 1763 Inventory records: ‘The Japan Closet….Venus and a satyr, Phillipo Laura.’
The artist was born in Rome, the son of a Flemish landscape painter who had emigrated from Antwerp.
He was active mainly in Rome and was one of the principal artists patronised by the 5th Earl, who purchased many of his works, several of them in very small scale.
It is known that he also painted small figures in the landscapes of the French artist Claude Lorraine (1600-1682).
