Attributed to Pier Francesco Mola (Coldrerio 1612-1666 Rome)

According to an inscription on the back of the frame, the attribution to Mola was confirmed to Steinberg by Philip Pouncey in March 1981. Nicholas Turner, whom we thank for his assistance cataloguing this lot, also confirms the attribution to Mola and dates it around 1640-50. He compares it with a drawing of Two men seen from behind in the park of the Villa Pamphilj, Rome, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, representing the painter and his friend Niccolò Simonelli relieving themselves against a wall (exhib. cat. Italiaanse tekeningen I. De 17 de eeuw, Amsterdam, 1973, no. 93). Turner further notes the influence of Guercino, whose name is inscribed verso, and of prints by Callot and Netherlandish artists on Mola's work.