This drawing is one of a series by Giandomenico Tiepolo dedicated to centaurs, fauns and other mythological creatures. The series is one of the most original creations by Giandomenico, son of Giambattista and brother of Lorenzo, both of whom also have works in Italian Masterpieces from Spain’s Royal Court, Museo del Prado. Numerous drawings from this series have survived in museums and collections around the world, including nine at the British Museum, London; six at the University of Princeton Art Museum, United States; and eleven at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, to mention but a few. One of the works in the latter institution bears the number 197, from which we can deduce the vastness of Giandomenico’s series.

These drawings have similar characteristics: they are scenes of centaurs and satyrs outdoors, their dimensions are approximately 19.0 x 27.5 cm and their technical execution is almost always the same - grey or brown wash, pen and brown ink. In many cases, including the present work, there is some preliminary pencil drawing as well. Almost all have a number drawn in ink on the upper left part of the page, as well as the artist’s signature. Here, however, the complete number is missing -as the paper has been cut- and only a 4 remains.

Centaur with cherubs, 1759-91, may have come from the sale of Baron Louis-Auguste de Schwiter’s estate in Paris in 1883, when various drawings from that series were sold, including some of those now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This hypothesis is strengthened by the fact that the back of the drawing bears a glued label from what appears to be an auction catalogue; it is well known that Fernández Durán acquired many of his works at Parisian sales in the late nineteenth century.

It is difficult to precisely identify the subject of this drawing because, like many from this series, it is drawn with great freedom. The youth armed with bow and arrows at the right of the centaur indicates that the latter might be Nessus, which would make this a representation of the kidnapping of Deianira. The arrow sticking out of the centaur’s hindquarters would thus be the poisonous one shot by Hercules. Many other drawings from this series, including those at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, depict the kidnapping of nymphs and female satyrs (Carlos Varona, M. C. de, en: Italian Masterpieces. From Spain´s Royal Court, Museo del Prado, 2014, p. 234).