Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) The Italian Woman. 1953. Zincography (on a photolithographed background of a painting by Victor Orsel). 350 x 442 [501 x 655 mm]. Bloch 740; Mourlot 238; Güse-Rau 573. A very fine print on ivory-colored "Arches" watermarked vellum, numbered and signed in pencil. Minor tears and a faint trace of oxidation along the edges, especially at the bottom. All margins untrimmed. Edition of 50 prints. Galerie Louise Leiris, ed. AABM stamp (Lugt 3075) In the Mourlot studio, Picasso came across a zinc plate onto which a painting by the Lyon-based artist Victor Orsel (1795–1850) had been transferred. This subject was intended for a poster advertising an exhibition on Lyon painting in November 1948. Upon returning with the plate to his studio on Rue des Grands-Augustins, Picasso reworked it extensively with ink, a brush, and a scraper to transform the subject into one of his compositions featuring a faun, Bacchus, and a nude woman frolicking together.