Pier Francesco Mola

Pier Francesco Mola, called Il Ticinese was an Italian painter of the High Baroque, mainly active around Rome. His masterpiece as a fresco painter is widely considered to be the fresco in the gallery of Alexander VII in the Quirinal Palace Gallery, entitled Joseph making himself known to his Brethren (1657). However, Mola is considered to have been better as a painter of small pictures, especially landscapes. With his looser style and handling, more naturalistic palette, and interest in exploring landscape elements, Mola differs from the prevailing, highly-theoretical classicism of such leading 17th-century Roman painters as Andrea Sacchi.