Pier Francesco Mola
1612-1666
Hanging of a Donkey
8 15/16 x 14 7/16 inches (226 x 367 mm)
Pen and brown ink, with brown wash, over black chalk, on paper.
1981.98
Gift of Janos Scholz.
Notes
Watermark: star within a circle, surmounted by a cross (similar to Heawood 3874).
The story behind this caricature is unclear, but the central figure is surely Mola's friend Niccolò Simonelli (who appears in many drawings by the artist), and conversely, the donkey appears in another of Mola's caricatures (inv. 1981.97) as one of the attendants at the bedside of an ailing Simonelli.
The story behind this caricature is unclear, but the central figure is surely Mola's friend Niccolò Simonelli (who appears in many drawings by the artist), and conversely, the donkey appears in another of Mola's caricatures (inv. 1981.97) as one of the attendants at the bedside of an ailing Simonelli.
Inscriptions/Markings
Numbered at lower right, "35".
Associated names
Hugelshofer, Walter, 1899- former owner.
Scholz, János, former owner.
Scholz, János, former owner.
Bibliography
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Twentieth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1981-1983. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, p. 278.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
Department