Man in Bed Looking at a Skull; Allegory of the Passage of Time

Like so many of Pier Francesco Mola's caricatures, this example has both universal and personal aspects. A man lying in bed, contemplating a skull and hourglass, can surely be understood as an Allegory of Time, of time and life passing and the inevitability of death. In this particular case, based on inscriptions in other drawings by Mola, we can identify the man as Niccolò Simonelli (1611-1671), a connoisseur and collector who was a friend and supporter of Mola, but who was also famously difficult personality; while there is surely a backstory to the drawing, the precise story that engendered it is unknown. Simonelli appears in many caricatures by Mola including two further sheets at the Morgan, 1965.8, 1981.97, and 1981.98.
The same figure appears in a number of other caricatures by Mola, including several at the Ashmolean Museum (see K. T. Parker, "Catalogue of the Collection of Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum", II, Oxford, 1956, nos. 914-15).