Pier Francesco Mola

Possibly in the collection of the Principe Cybo duca di Massa, in whose 18th-century inventory a painting of similar subject is listed:  "Una Sibilla Tiburtina del Mola mezza figura 35" (Archivio di Stato di Roma, Fondo Cybo);
Anonymous sale, Artcurial, Briest, Poulain & Tajan, 2 February 2009, lot 29 (as Circle of Pier Francesco Mola).

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas has been strip-lined and restrained on to a new stretcher; one or two minor tears have been consolidated and the painting’s edges have been repaired. This has left the canvas fragile and vulnerable; areas at risk include a vertical weakness in the background opposite the Sibyl’s chin and another horizontal one beneath her right hand through the book. Some abrasion and small pin prick paint loss across the paint surface has led to augmentation, particularly to the sibyl’s turban, white sleeve and both cuffs of her smock, also, to a lesser degree, to the edge of the wall, upper left, the back of the book and the cheek and neck, a certain amount of this strengthening, in my opinion, is excessive. Many areas of the paint surface are in a well preserved condition; the impasto is intact and bravura brushstrokes untouched. The varnish has discoloured and its removal would improve the overall tonality. Offered in a gilt wood frame in good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Although active for much of his life in Rome, Mola travelled extensively to northern Italy, visiting Bologna, Lucca and Venice amongst other cities, in 1633-40 and 1641-47. After 1647, the period from which this painting probably dates, Mola's paintings demonstrate a deep understanding of the works of Titian, the Bassano and Guercino. The influence of the latter is certainly present in this Sibyl and she is also reminiscent of Carlo Saraceni, whose works Mola must have seen in both Venice and Rome.

Female figures, particularly young women, are extremely rare in Mola's oeuvre and this painting of a single female figure would appear to have been executed per se. On account of the painting's subject and dimensions it could be identifiable with "Una Sibilla Tiburtina del Mola mezza figura 35" listed in the 18th-century inventory of the collection of the Principe Cybo duca di Massa (Archivio di Stato di Roma, Fondo Cybo).¹  Although the inventory is undated and the Principe not actually named, he is likely to be Alderano, Duca di Massa, Principe di Carrara (1690-1731), who married Ricciarda di Gonzaga-Novellare in 1715. The Sibyl is similar in handling to Mola's sketch of a Head of a Young Woman in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Rome, which is thought to be preparatory for the figure of Hagar in his Angel appearing to Hagar and Ishmael in the Galleria Colonna, Rome.² Both those works have been dated to the 1650s on grounds of style and a similar date of execution might be considered plausible for the present work.

The attribution to Mola was first proposed by Dott. Riccardo Lattuada and has been independently endorsed by Dr. Erich Schleier and Dott. Francesco Petrucci, both on the basis of photographs. Dott. Petrucci plans to include the painting in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Pier Francesco Mola's works, due to be published by Bozzi Editore in 2011.

1. Information very kindly provided by Dott. Francesco Petrucci.
2. R. Cocke, Pier Francesco Mola, Oxford 1972, p. 58, cat. no. 48, reproduced plate 94, and p. 55, cat. no. 42, reproduced plate 93 respectively. The former is reproduced in colour in Pier Francesco Mola 1612-1666, exhibition catalogue, Lugano, Cantonale d'Arte, 23 September - 9 November 1989; Rome, Musei Capitolini, 3 December 1989 - 31 January 1990, p. 189.