black chalk, watermark Strasbourg lily and letters JH[onig] & Z
27.2 x 43.7 cm
This double-sided drawing is after the famous Roman sculpture showing a sleeping
hermaphrodite (fig. 1). The sculpture was discovered in Rome in 1618 and soon after its
discovery it entered the collection of Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli-Borghese (1577-1633).
The Cardinal commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) to execute the buttoned
mattress and he had it displayed at the Villa Borghese. In 1807 it was sold to the French
state and transferred to the Louvre where it is on display until this day. [1] The paper on
which the drawing is executed suggests it was drawn by a Dutch artist, who either saw the
sculpture in the Villa Borghese or the Louvre.

[1] inv. MR 220.