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Lot Essay
The subject of this drawing is based on Torquato Tasso's epic poem, Gerusalemme Liberata, first published in 1581, itself a variant of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso of 1532. This lengthy work about a Christian knight and his adventures in pursuit of his love, the pagan princess Angelica included many characters who were a continual source for artist's from its publication in the 16th century well into the 18th century (see lot ?? FRAGO). Mola has depicted a particularly romantic interlude, when the princess Ermina who has fallen in love with the Christian knight, Tancred, in her longing carves his name into a tree. He painted this episode at least two times, as well as other episodes from text.
The painting referred to in the inscription on the verso was acquired by Louis XIV in 1685 and is now in the Louvre (fig, 1; F. Petrucci, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666) Materia e colore nella pittura del '600, Rome, 2012, p. 350, no. B.85 ). In the Louvre painting, Ermina is seated in a landscape, with her arm stretched up as she carves Tancred's name into a tree. There is another painting of the same subject which shows Ermina standing in front of the tree (Petrucci, op. cit., p. 283, no. B16). The present drawing may have been a step in the evolution of both paintings.
Mola painted another episode from the story that shows Ermina and Vafrino tending to Tancred's wounds, also at the Louvre (Petrucci, op. cit., p. 356, no. B86). Four studies related to this painting are known (S. Brink, Disegnatore virtuoso. Die Zeichnungen des Pier Francesco Mola und seines Kreises, exh. cat., Düsseldorf, Kunstakademie and elsewhere, 2002, pp. 66-71, figs. 17, 19a, 19b, 19c ), indicating that the artist developed the compositions over several drawings, and that the present sheet may have been one step in the process to creating the paintings of the same subject.
The painting referred to in the inscription on the verso was acquired by Louis XIV in 1685 and is now in the Louvre (fig, 1; F. Petrucci, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666) Materia e colore nella pittura del '600, Rome, 2012, p. 350, no. B.85 ). In the Louvre painting, Ermina is seated in a landscape, with her arm stretched up as she carves Tancred's name into a tree. There is another painting of the same subject which shows Ermina standing in front of the tree (Petrucci, op. cit., p. 283, no. B16). The present drawing may have been a step in the evolution of both paintings.
Mola painted another episode from the story that shows Ermina and Vafrino tending to Tancred's wounds, also at the Louvre (Petrucci, op. cit., p. 356, no. B86). Four studies related to this painting are known (S. Brink, Disegnatore virtuoso. Die Zeichnungen des Pier Francesco Mola und seines Kreises, exh. cat., Düsseldorf, Kunstakademie and elsewhere, 2002, pp. 66-71, figs. 17, 19a, 19b, 19c ), indicating that the artist developed the compositions over several drawings, and that the present sheet may have been one step in the process to creating the paintings of the same subject.