First training with Lodovico Mattioli and then with Donato Creti in the house of Alessandro Fava in Bologna,ಌ Ercole Graziani established his career by the late 1720s and served as director of the Accademia Clemintina in 1727. Though well kno꧙wn for his large altarpieces, it is in his smaller scale works such as the present painting that Graziani's signature blending of Bolognese academicism with graceful forms and Venetian coloring is on full display.