(1612–1666)
The Praying of Saint Barnabas (recto); Adam and Eve: A study for a lunette (verso), red and black chalk, on laid paper, with watermark „Crescent in a nine cornered shield“, 25,8 x 37,2 cm, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Collection Giancarlo Sestieri, Rome.

The study for „The Praying of Saint Barnabas“ goes back to the composition of an altar painting with the same topic by Pier Francesco Mola (1652) in the chapel of the church Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso in Rome. Several preparatory studies by Mola for the painting are known. They depict variants of the subject and give evidence of the various steps of development in the creation process of the composition. (compare Pier Francesco Mola 1612–1666, Exh. cat. Lugano, Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Rome, Musei Capitolini, 1989, p. 169, Cat. I.19, pp. 227–230, Cat. III. pp. 12–15). They were executed in pen and brown ink and two of them were drawn in black chalk and brown wash. Due to the stylistic and technical differences the present study in black chalk can only be attributed to an artist of the circle of Mola. The scene of Adam and Eve on the reverse which presumably was a preparatory study for a lunette can stylistically be ascribed to an artist from the circle of Mola in the second half of the 17th century.

We are grateful to Prof. Francesco Petrucci for the scientific research.

© Bologna, Zeri Photo Archive, Inv. 47887