No. 67 of 74 (PAJ1976 - PAJ2049)

This is a dynamic study of a mythological female figure in rapid movement, semi-nude, swathed round with a white robe and with a blue ribbon round her hair and down between her breasts. It does not have the attributes of Diana, goddess of the hunt and the Moon (e.g. her bow), or Atalanta - the latter also a skilled hunter and swift runner - but lies in that area. This and PAJ2041are accomplished compositions, possibly based on pre-existing classical examples.

It is one of 73 drawings by Bray (plus one signed 'NF 1782') preserved in a 19th-century album. They have now been separately remounted. Bray (1750-1823), was second lieutenant of the 44-gun ‘Pallas’ under Captain the Hon. William Cornwallis (1744-1819) – later a well-known admiral - on two voyages (1774-77) to report on British interests in West Africa, including the slave trade. The dated drawings refer only to the first of these, from December 1774 to September 1775, though a few may be from the second. Others comprise country views, some of Deal, Kent (where Bray may have come from), and others of social-history interest.