Pier Francesco Mola

With inventory number 94.

Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1607-1671), Palazzo Giubbonari, Rome, mentioned in his posthumous inventory in 1671 and again in the inventory of his bequests in 1672;
Thence by descent to his nephew, Maffeo Barberini, Prince of Palestrina (1631-1685);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, December 9, 1994, lot 53;
With Thomas Agnew and Sons Ltd., London, 1995;
There acquired by the present collector.

M. Aronberg Lavin, Seventeenth-Century Barberini Documents and Inventories of Art, New York 1975, Section II, p. 319, IV. INV. 71, no. 561 and p. 351, IV. HERED. 72, no. 374;
F. Petrucci, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Materia e colore nella pittura del '600, Rome 2012, pp. 338, cat. no. B77, reproduced in color p. 192, fig. 138.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work on marble is in beautiful condition. The marble is unbroken, which is certainly rare. The painting may be dirty. Under ultraviolet light, retouches are visible in the lower right and lower center in the ground, and in the sandy cliff in the middle distance in the center. There are also a few spots of retouching in the sky, in the upper right and upper left. The figure is un-retouched, as is the remainder of the picture. Because the work is dull and slightly dirty, it is recommended that it be cleaned.
"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."

A rare object of remarkable beauty, this Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata appears unique among Pier Francesco Mola's surviving works as a painting on marble.  It is recorded in the posthumous inventory of Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1607-1671), valued at 40 scudi and listed as, "Un quadretto in Pietra di grandezza di p.mo Uno, et uno e mezzo rappresentante S. Fran.co che ricieve l'Estimate Con Sua Cornice di Pero, mano del Mola no. 1."¹ 

Having been accused by Pope Innocent X of underhand financial dealings, Cardinal Antonio and his brother, Taddeo, fled Rome in 1645 taking exile in Paris.  Pleas for their pardon on the part of Taddeo’s wife succeeded only in retaining the Barberini’s property and their outstanding collection of paintings and sculptures.  The brothers meanwhile remained in France under the protection of the king until the union of Taddeo’s son, Maffeo with  Olimpia Giustiniani, the Pope’s grandniece, brought reconciliation.  Following his death in 1671, Antonio Barberini's collection was divided between his brother, Cardinal Francesco (1597-1679) and Maffeo, his nephew (1631-1685).  According to the 1672 inventory of Cardinal Antonio's bequests, this painting fell under those allocated to Maffeo, though it does not appear in his nephew's subsequent inventories.

Francesco Petrucci tentatively suggests a dating for this work between 1650 and 1655, a period in which the artist adopted a more fluid painting style, his draftsmanship becoming more rigorous and Baroque and his figures more slender.  At this time Mola was looking to his contemporaries and absorbing their influence; the pose of Saint Francis here, for example, matches that of the Saint Francis in Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione’s Virgin Immaculate Appearing to Saints Francis and Anthony altarpiece for the Capuchin church in Osimo (Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, inv. no. 66.39) completed in 1650.

Given the proposed dating, it is unclear whether the cardinal acquired this extraordinary work directly from the artist’s studio, following his return from France in 1653, or whether he instead commissioned it while still in exile, perhaps basing his decision on preexisting drawings.  It is interesting to note that a drawing of this same composition was offered at Christie’s London in 2008, as attributed to Pier Francesco Mola, though we can only speculate as to whether that was indeed a preparatory study for the present painting.²

1.  See Aronberg Lavin, under Literature, translates: "A little painting on stone of one palm by one and a half in size representing St. Francis receiving the stigmata with a pear wood frame, Mola's hand no. 1." .
2.  See Christie's London, 8 July 2008, lot 34.