The Earls Spencer

English

Explore Selected Works

Pier Francesco Mola, The Angel Appearing to Hagar in the Desert, c. 1660, red chalk on laid paper, Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 2007.111.130.b

The Angel Appearing to Hagar in the Desert

Pier Francesco Mola · c. 1660 · red chalk on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2007.111.130.b

Pier Francesco Mola, The Angel Appearing to Hagar in the Desert (recto), c. 1660, brush and pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk on light beige laid paper, Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 2007.111.130.a

The Angel Appearing to Hagar in the Desert (recto)

Pier Francesco Mola · c. 1660 · brush and pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk on light beige laid paper ·  Accession ID  2007.111.130.a

Shown from the thighs up against a dark background, a man with light skin, wearing a black satin jerkin with puffed breeches, stands with his hand on the neck of a dog by his side in this vertical portrait painting. The man stands with his body angled to our right but looks at us from the corners of his dark eyes. His brows are subtly raised, and his cheeks are slightly sunken under high cheekbones. His red hair is cut short, and his red mustache and beard are trimmed. The high collar of his black jacket is lined with a white ruffle along his chin line. Light from our left glints off the long sleeves of his tight-fitting jacket, creating the impression that it is made of heavy silk. Two thick gold chains hang down his chest, and a sword hangs from a belt around his waist, the hilt on the hip farther from us. His pants puff out and gather on the mid-thigh over stockings. He hooks the thumb of his right hand, on our left, around his hip and he rests his other hand on the neck of the dog standing by his left side, to our right. The dark brown dog has a white stripe down its nose. It faces our left in profile but its brown eyes look toward us. On the collar, ornate metal bosses alternate with low spikes, set in a wide black band. A ring hangs from the front of the collar. Barely legible, the painting is signed and dated in the upper left corner with dark paint: “Antonius mor pingebat a. 1569.”
Antonis Mor, Portrait of a Gentleman, 1569, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.52

Portrait of a Gentleman

Antonis Mor · 1569 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1937.1.52

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Two Nymphs and a Satyr, 1640/1647, pen and brown ink on laid paper, Andrew W. Mellon Fund, 1975.71.1

Two Nymphs and a Satyr

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione · 1640/1647 · pen and brown ink on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1975.71.1

Johannes Ruisscher, Johannes Ruisscher, The Sluice, 1640-1690, etching and engraving on laid paper, Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen, 2012.92.50

The Sluice

Johannes Ruisscher, Johannes Ruisscher · 1640-1690 · etching and engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2012.92.50