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Lot Essay
The subject of this drawing is derived from the Gerusalemme Liberata, the epic poem by Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) first published in 1581. The poem narrates the adventures of the Christian knight Tancred in pursuit of his love, the pagan princess Angelica. Rich in characters and stories, the Gerusalemme Liberata, was a source of inspiration for artists from the 16th Century well into the 18th Century. In this drawing Pier Francesco Mola depicted the episode with Erminia, a Saracen princess, who had fallen in love with Tancred. While hiding in the forest disguised as a shepherdess, she carves the name of her beloved on a tree trunk.
An inscription on the back of the mount connects the drawing with a painting acquired by King Louis XIV in 1685 and now in the Louvre (Petrucci, op. cit., no. B. 85, ill.). In the painting, Erminia is seated in a landscape, with her arm stretched up to carve Tancred's name on the tree. The present drawing, however, is closer to another version of the same subject also painted by Mola that was recently on the art market and it is now in a private collection (Petrucci, op. cit., no. B16, ill.). The latter painting was in the collection of the renowned 18th Century French connoisseur Jean de Jullienne (1686-1766) a prominent collector and patron.
An inscription on the back of the mount connects the drawing with a painting acquired by King Louis XIV in 1685 and now in the Louvre (Petrucci, op. cit., no. B. 85, ill.). In the painting, Erminia is seated in a landscape, with her arm stretched up to carve Tancred's name on the tree. The present drawing, however, is closer to another version of the same subject also painted by Mola that was recently on the art market and it is now in a private collection (Petrucci, op. cit., no. B16, ill.). The latter painting was in the collection of the renowned 18th Century French connoisseur Jean de Jullienne (1686-1766) a prominent collector and patron.