The Angel Appearing to Hagar in the Desert (recto)

c. 1660

Pier Francesco Mola

Associated Names
Pier Francesco Mola

Artist, Italian, 1612 - 1666

This is a drawing of a wooded landscape scene. In the foreground, there is a figure reclining on the ground in a relaxed pose, appearing to engage with a bird-like creature. The bird is in a dynamic movement with wings raised and body angled downward towards the figure. The background features slender trees and branches. The drawing is executed in a monochrome wash with bold lines and shading. The landscape continues to the horizon with faint hill contours.

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Artwork overview

Associated Artworks

The image shows swirling and curving lines drawn in red chalk on a textured background. The lines form loose shapes intertwined throughout the page. At certain points, the lines converge to suggest faint outlines of human figures, resembling angels or figures in motion. The artwork uses abstract lines and shading to hint at dynamic movement and ethereal shapes.

The Angel Appearing to Hagar in the Desert

Pier Francesco Mola

1655

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Jan Pietersz Zoomer, Amsterdam (1641 - 1724) (Lugt 1511). Jonathan Richardson, Sr., London (1665 - 1745) (Lugt 2184). Earl Spencer, Althorp (18th century) (Lugt 1531). (sale, T. Philipe, London, 14 June 1811, part of lot 494). (sale, Sotheby's London, 23 March 1972, no. 100); (Alfred Brod, London, 1972); Armando Neerman, London; Wolfgang Ratjen, Munich; purchased 2007 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1995

  • Fünfzig italienische Zeichnungen des 16. - 18. Jahrhunderts aus der Stiftung Ratjen, Vaduz. Liechtensteinischen Staatlichen Kunstsammlung, Vaduz, 1995, no. 31.

1996

  • Italian Drawings from the Ratjen Foundation, Vaduz. The Frick Collection, New York. Bern, 1996, no. 31.

2011

  • Italian Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, 1525-1835, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2011, no. 34.

Bibliography

1972

  • Bean, Jacob. Review of Richard Cocke, _Pier Francesco Mola . Master Drawings 10, no. 4 (Winter 1972): 386.

1978

  • Ebertshäuser, Heidi. "Die Stiftung Ratjen, Vaduz." Graphische Kunst 10 (1978): 6.

1984

  • Pommier, Henriette, and Evelyne Gaudry. Dessins du XVIe au XIXe siècle de la collection du Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Lyon. Musée Historique des Tissus. Lyon, 1984: 44.

1989

  • Pier Francesco Mola, 1612 - 1666. Museo Cantonale d'Arte, Lugano. Milan, 1989: 263, under no. III.65 (entry by Nicholas Turner).

2006

  • Loire, Stéphane. Peintures italiennes du XVIIe siècle du musée du Louvre. Paris, 2006: 224.

Inscriptions

lower right, brown ink, A: v: D.

Watermarks

six-pointed star in a circle [Briquet 6089]

Wikidata ID

Q64619550

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