The Return of the Spies from the Promised Land
c. 1666
Medium
pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk on laid paper, laid down on an old album sheet
Dimensions
sheet: 15.2 × 26 cm (6 × 10 1/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Donald Stone
Accession Number
2022.40.6
Art Historical Context
Pier Francesco Mola’s drawing captures a pivotal biblical moment from the Book of Numbers, when Israelite spies return from the Promised Land bearing a cluster of grapes as proof of its abundance. Created around 1666 near the end of the artist’s career, the small sheet invites close viewing, rewarding the eye with lively figures and a sense of narrative drama suited to private contemplation rather than public display. Mola employs pen and brown ink with fluid brown washes over faint black chalk underdrawing, a technique that allowed Baroque draftsmen to suggest both contours and atmospheric d...
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...