Getty Museum
The Vision of Saint Bruno
Creator
Pier Francesco MolaItalian Artist · 1612–1666
All works by this person →An architect's son, Pier Francesco Mola developed his mature style after leaving Rome and traveling in Bologna and Venice between 1633 and 1647. He studied under a former assistant of Annibale Carracci and Domenichino and was profoundly influenced by Guercino's soft modeling. In 1647 Mola moved back to the family residence in Rome, where he painted romantic works in chiaroscuro. In Rome he receive
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1660
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Culture
- Italian
- Department
- Paintings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
During his devotions in the wilderness, Saint Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian order, a monastic community committed to solitary meditation, experienced a vision. Gazing intensely up at the sky, the saint tentatively reaches out to touch the mystical illusion of angels appearing in the sky. To the left, two tall trees cross each other at an angle, forming a cross. Below the rolling clouds, hills and land gently recede into the distance. The painter Pier Francesco Mola won fame in Rome for his rich landscapes and dramatic cloud formations, based on the Venetian landscape tradition. He painted Saint Bruno's white robes with long, smooth vertical sweeps of the brush, creating a landscape of the soft, heavy fabric.
The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.