Pier Francesco Mola, Italian 1612-1666- Joseph greeting his brothers; red chalk, pen and brown ink, watercolour and wash heightened with white on laid paper, with Joshua Reynolds's collector's stamp (Lugt 2364) (lower right), 19.1 x 24.7 cm...

Pier Francesco Mola,

Italian 1612-1666-

Joseph greeting his brothers;

red chalk, pen and brown ink, watercolour and wash heightened with white on laid paper, with Joshua Reynolds's collector's stamp (Lugt 2364) (lower right), 19.1 x 24.7 cm.

Provenance: Sir Joshua Reynolds, PRA (1723-1792).; The estate of the late designer Anthony Powell.

Note: The present work is very likely one of several preparatory studies for the artist's arguably most prestigious commission, the large-scale fresco of Joseph greeting his Brothers in the Gallery of the Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome, of 1656-57. A drawing which is closer to the composition of the fresco is at Holkham (no.15694). Further studies in pen and brown ink exploring the composition are known (see R. Cocke, 'Pier Francesco Mola', Oxford, 1972, pls 60-72; and F. Petrucci, 'Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666): Materia e colore nella pittura del '600', Rome, 2012, pp.466-67).

We are grateful to Dr Francesco Petrucci for confirming the attribution of the present lot.
Laid down on card. Please refer to department for condition report