Miracle of Domenico Segni

Against the rising tide of academic classicism in mid-century Rome, Mola maintained a warm, inherently expressive naturalism founded on the example of Annibale Carracci and Guercino, invigorated by his extended stay in Venice, and featuring the depiction of landscape. This is a study for one of three local mira-cles of the Virgin in the cloister of Santa Maria della Quercia at Viterbo, Mola’s first and most important landscapes in fresco. Characteristic of Mola’s drafts-manship are the approximative description, rich and variable tonality, and animated surface, all the result of an exceptionally dense and loose application of washes.