Draughtsmen in the Woods around Marescalchi, near Bologna

Felice Giani is known to have drawn almost incessantly, both in the studio and outdoors. From an inscription on the drawing, it would appear that it was made in Bologna in March. The artist and his assistants painted decorations in Palazzo Marescalchi in that city in 1810 and 1811. The abstract pattern of leafless trees depicted in the drawing make it one of the most poignant images of landscape in Giani’s oeuvre.