Inscribed by the artist in pen and brown ink, at lower center, "il didietro de la Cascata"; signed and dated at lower right, "C. Natoire 1762". On the verso is a mutilated inscription in the artist's hand, "pour monsieur le marquis..."
Denison, Cara D. French Drawings, 1550-1825. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, no. 49 (as promised gift to the Pierpont Morgan Library)
Denison, Cara, Myra Nan Rosenfeld, and Stephanie Wiles. Exploring Rome : Piranesi and His Contemporaries. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library; Montréal : Centre Canadien d'Architecture, 1993, no. 80, repr. (as promised gift to the Pierpont Morgan Library)
From Leonardo to Pollock: Master drawings from the Morgan Library. New York: Morgan Library, 2006, cat. no. 77, p. 162-163.
Watermark: none visible through lining.
In 1762, Natoire sent to the marquis de Marigny two drawings that he had made during his visit to Frascati which were views of the cascade taken from two opposite sides. The present sheet shows the head of the cascade on the terrace above the Nymphaeum, while the pendant sheet, which is also in the collection of the Library (Acc. No. 1965.18), depicts the view taken from the foot of the cascade. A third view of Frascati, made earlier by the artist and dated 1755, was acquired by the Library in 1955 (Acc. No. 1955.3).
Marigny, Abel Franc̜ois Poisson, marquis de, 1727-1781, former owner.
Tully, Alice, 1902-1993, former owner.