Caricature of a Seated Man Reading
1612–66
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash
Dimensions
9 11/16 x 7 3/8in. (24.6 x 18.7cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1960
Accession Number
61.2.2
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created around the mid-17th century by Italian artist Pier Francesco Mola, *Caricature a Seated Man Reading* captures a quiet, everyday moment with gentle humor. Mola, active in Rome during the Baroque period, known for his lively drawings that blended observation with expressive exaggeration. This intimate sketch portrays a man absorbed in his book, his relaxed posture and slightly oversized features hinting at the playful spirit of caricature that flourished in Italian art circles of the time. Executed in pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash, the drawing showcases Mola’s fluid techni...
About the Artist
Pier Francesco Mola
Pier Francesco Mola (1612–1666) was a Roman Baroque painter celebrated for the lyrical quality of his landscapes and the painterly freedom of his figural work, qualities that set him apart from the more rigorous classicism of some of his contemporaries. Born in Coldrerio in the Swiss canton of Ticino, he spent the greater part of his career in Rome, where he underwent an extensive and eclectic for...