Il Pigmalione. This one-act ‘scena lirica’, as Donizetti called it, is his only attempt at a mythological subject; it tells the familiar story of the sculptor whose masterpiece is brought to life. The final page of the autograph states that it was ‘begun on 15 September and finished 1 October at almost two in the morning, Tuesday, the day of the arrival of the new legate’; the year was 1816, when Donizetti was studying with Padre Mattei at Bologna. Most probably this score was composed for the experience, and since Mayr visited Donizetti in Bologna in September 1816, it would seem the project was either suggested by him or undertaken by Donizetti to demonstrate to his former teacher his current prowess. Since Donizetti's studies at Bologna were made possible only by contributions from Bergamo, he was scarcely in a position to commission a new libretto. Readily available to him was Sografi's text for Cimadoro's Pimmaglione, which was widely performed, especially in northern Italy.

Il Pigmalione, in every sense a modest work, contains only two characters (Pigmalione, tenor, and Galatea, soprano); the vocal writing is limited in range and discreetly embellished, and the work is scored for flute, oboe, two clarinets, two horns, two bassoons and strings. The autograph is unique among Donizetti's operas in not being divided into separate numbers – a strong indication that the work was written as an exercise, without expectation of performance or publication.