GIOVANNI BATTISTA CAPPELLO (17TH CENTURY)
A bird in an extensive landscape, in a decorated surround
Signed and dated A Ioanne Baptista Cappello, hec delineatio & Inventio A.D. 1670 in a ribbon at the bottom. Further inscribed Nunquam and Offuscabitur in cartouches at the left and right edges.
pen and brown ink on vellum
19.9 x 18.8 cm

Nothing is known about the artist, Giovanni Battista Cappello, whose name is inscribed in Latin in a ribbon at the bottom of the composition, alongside the date of 1670. It is possible that he was a northern European artist signing the work in Latin.
The inscriptions in the cartouches can be translated to 'It will never be obscured'. The bird in the centre could be a nightingale, a songbird.