Hebe & Bacchante

This fine pair of drawings after the 18th-century Italian painter and engraver Giovanni Battista Cipriani RA (1727–1785) depict Hebe, the ancient Greek goddess of youth, and a Bacchante, a priestess or female followers of the god Bacchus. The pair represent the elegant neo-classical decorative taste that prevailed in Britain in the 18th century; Cipriani's commissions included the decorations for the interior of the north block at Somerset House, which now houses the Courtauld Gallery.