PIER FRANCESCO MOLA (1612-1666, Italy)
Aaron, Holy to the Lord, circa 1650, Rome

*Note: The title is derived from the Hebrew inscription on Aaron's crown, "Koddesh Le YHWH". YHWH is the Hebrew manner of transcribing Lord or God; thus avoiding the actual word Yahwah, which in the orthodox Jewish tradition would present a sacrilegious "image".

37 ¼ x 27 ¾ inches (94.6 x 70.5 cm)
Oil on canvas
Unsigned (It should be noted that most known paintings in Mola's rare and small body of work are not signed.)
Excellent condition / Conservation: Nancy Krieg, New York City

Provenance:

Palazzo Colonna, Rome, late 17th c. (as determined by a descriptive inventory in the Getty Museum archives).
Private Collection.

Expertise:

The development of the Mola authorship began (1991) under the early direction of Fred R. Kline (Fred R. Kline Gallery & Kline Art Research Associates, Santa Fe), with the assistance of Dr. Craig Felton (Chairman, Art History, Smith College). Kline's first idea had been Ribera, for whom Felton is a leading scholar. Mola authorship was first suggested to Dr. Felton by the late Dr. Robert Manning in 1991, who (along with Eugene Thaw), saw the painting at Nancy Krieg's studio. The attribution has been verbally upheld to Dr. Felton (based on study of transparencies) by Sir Denis Mahon (Independent Scholar, London) and Dr. Michael Helston (Then-Director, National Gallery, London), and to Mr. Kline by Dr. Keith Christiansen (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998) and most recently and enthusiastically by Mola scholar Dr. Dawson Carr (J. Paul Getty Museum, 1998).

Description:

The painting depicts a naturalistic single figure of Aaron - from the waist up - carrying out his priestly duties as Yom Kippur begins. It is sunset and Aaron stands within the Tabernacle in the wilderness. He holds a silver censer, within which is a glowing red ember. His face shows an intense and pious concentration. The background landscape features a puffy cloud at upper left and part of a palm tree at upper right.

Research facts:

1. Of Mola's some 50 known paintings, Aaron bears the closest affinity to Mola's masterpiece and most famous painting, Barbary Pirate (Louvre), sharing with it the same model, style, period, and dramatic characterization.

2. The Palazzo Colonna inventory described Aaron (size, composition) and its pendant Moses (unlocated); the identity of the artist was not noted.

3. Aaron, Holy to the Lord is the unique single figure of Aaron known to have been painted by an old master, circa 15th-18th centuries (Ref: Pigler). The Judaic iconographic details are rare and may have significance related to mid-17th c. Jewish history, which can be characterized as messianic.

Opinion:

Mola's Aaron can be compared most favorably to the artist's significant works in other U.S. collections: to the Getty's The Vision of Saint Bruno and the Met's Rest on the Flight into Egypt. Clearly, Aaron's aesthetic quality and its metaphoric and naturalistic power places the painting alongside the Louvre's Barbary Pirate as among Mola's greatest paintings and among the most notable Baroque paintings of the 17th century.

Fred R. Kline/ April 18, 2002/ Santa Fe