Drawing for Canto I of Alessandro Tassoni's "Secchia rapita"

Gravelot's design is preparatory for an illustration to Canto I of an edition of Alessandro Tassoni's "Secchia rapita" (“The Stolen Bucket”), published in Paris by Lorenzo Prault and Pietro Durand in 1766. Tassoni's mock-heroic poem, originally published in Paris in 1622, blends the construct of an epic with an absurd premise: a 14th century war between Modena and Bologna was actually caused by the Modenese stealing a bucket from Bologna. The corresponding plate is captioned “Non fu rapita mai con più fatica Elena bella” and appears facing p. 1 in the published volume.The scene shows the battle for the bucket in the streets of Bologna, with Manfred seizing the bucket in the foreground.