MOLA, Pier Francesco
Italian Baroque Era Painter, 1612-1666
Painter and draughtsman, son of (1) Giovanni Battista Mola. His most characteristic works are small, intensely romantic scenes from mythology, the Bible, and from works by the poet Torquato Tasso, set in landscapes inspired by Venetian art. Yet he also received important public commissions for frescoes and altarpieces, and in his mature work he achieved an impressive synthesis of 17th-century Roman gran maniera painting with the stronger chiaroscuro and richer palette of the 16th-century Venetian style. He was a prolific and versatile draughtsman, who drew for pleasure as well as in preparation for commissions; he was also a witty caricaturist, who mocked himself and his friends as much as more typical targets
ID: 62406 Virgin Annunciate 1608-09 Marble, over life-size Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Orvieto Mochi first achieved fame with his Angel of Annunciation of 1603-05 for the Orvieto Cathedral, a work whose vigour and directness reflect the artist's earnestness in reformulating a conventional theme. Three years lie between the Angel of Annunciation and the Virgin Annunciate which completed the composition. Here Mochi evoked reminiscences of Rome, in particular the suavity of Mariani and the more active type of Classical statuary, but added his own flair for dramatic gestures by showing the Virgin starting from her chair. Mochi's work has sometimes been explained as a response to Caravaggio, yet it is better understood as part of a general concern with conveying emotions through external expressions, something manifests in the work of Carracci and Reni, as well as that of Caravaggio. Interestingly enough, the forcefulness of Mochi's Virgin Annunciate was not to the liking of the Bishop of Orvieto, who opposed its placement in the cathedral for three years. See also the Angel of Annunciation. Author: MOCHI, Francesco Title: Virgin Annunciate , 1601-1650 , Italian Form: sculpture , religious
