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Caricature of three ecclesiastics

Maker

(artist)
1612-1666

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1660s

Medium

pen and brown ink, brown wash on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 18.7 cm
Width: 26.4 cm

Accession Number

D.1959.WF.4688

Mode of Acquisition

Witt Fund, purchase, 1959

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Pier Francesco Mola’s caricature depicts the comical visit of a scruffy but well-fed mendicant in a rich residence, adorned with paintings, where he begs a skinny, empty-handed cardinal for money, whilst a pontiff sits stock still in the background. This figure has been identified as a portrait of the Roman art collector and patron Niccolò Simonelli, who was Mola’s dealer and friend. By including him, the artist apparently satirises the slippery alliances and hierarchies both in church life and in the Roman art world.

Provenance

anonymous sale, Christie's (London), 17 March 1959, lot 64 (with D.1959.WF.4687, 4689 and 4690); purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of the Courtauld Gallery via the Witt Fund

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Unseen, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 15/01/2015-29/03/2015

Drawings by Guercino and other Baroque Masters, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/02/1977-01/03/1977

Literature

Payne, Edward, 'Dealing with Art: Pier Francesco Mola's Caricature of Three Ecclesiastics' in 'Immediations', 2009 - 45-59; 2, 2
pp. 45-59
fig. 1

Inscriptions

Inscription: none.

Collector's mark: none.

Watermark: centre: circle containing a 6-pointed star with a circle at its centre, flanked by letters V and C, all surmounted by a Roman cross (no exact match found. Briquet 6089 - dated 1585/88 - and Piccard 41203 - Rome 1534 - both lack any lettering. Heawood 3874 dated 1761-63 - has the letter "C" inside the inner circle).

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