An Italian Courtyard

Two young lovers sit on the steps of an inn under an Italian sky, wiling away their time flirting. He gazes up at her as she dips a sweet into his glass of wine, a pearl earring lightly brushing her neck, a feather wafting over her fair curls. A young Black servant boy in magnificent uniform watches their unrestrained behaviour. He holds a tray containing a half-peeled lemon and an open oyster, often thought to be an aphrodisiac.

The inn seems to have taken over an ancient classical building with a terrace in front of it. The columns of its portico tower up out of sight. On the terrace is a statue inspired by Michelangelo's Rebellious Slave (Louvre, Paris), which might have appealed to a Dutch collector unable to make the journey to see such a famous masterpiece for themselves.

Credit: Presented by Mrs Gifford-Scott, 1980