
Signed ‘Herbert Draper’ (lower left), inscribed with title (centre right). | src Bonhams


images that haunt us
Although not recorded in Simon Toll’s catalogue raisonné on Draper, the present lot can probably be dated to 1892-93, when the artist was working in Rome. There are a number of related studies for the work, one of which, entitled ‘Pompilia’, depicts a girl in a similar crocheted cap (illustrated p.79, no. 33). The work can also be compared with other paintings of this period, such as ‘Love in the Garden of Philetas’ (RA 1892) and ‘The Spirit of the Fountain’ (1893), where flowers and ornamental gardens appear as popular motifs. | quoted from Bonhams London