Page:Biographical catalogue of the principal Italian painters.djvu/138

Rh 1368: the nimbus or glory of the Virgin, containing in both instances, the inscription, Ave gratia plena dotmnus tecum.

MODENA, or MUTINA, Tommaso da, painted, 1352. Venetian School. This was an early Italian painter, who was employed at Prague at the Court of the Emperor Charles IV. of Ger- many, about the middle of the fourteenth century. The Emperor employed this and other painters to decorate the castle of Carlstein. In the chapel of the castle are two pictures on wood, by Tommaso, an Ecce Homo, and a Ma- donna, of considerable largeness of style. Von Mechel and others sup- posed Tommaso to have been a BohO' mian, but the inscriptions on some of his pictures show that he was of Mo- dena: the important picture of the Virgin,. with the two side pieces con- taining the patron saints of Prague, contains the following singular inscrip- tion:—

The picture is not in oils as was given out by Von Mechel, but in tempera.

Works. Venice, Academy, St. Ca- therine. Trevigi, chapter-house of the Dominicans, a series of portraits of members of the order, 1352. Vienna, Belvedere Gallery, the Virgin and Child, with Saints, Wencelaus and Palmatius on the wings. Prague Ca- thedral, the Sancta Veronica, Head of Christ, on a gold ground. Berlin Gal- lery, ten figures of Saints in so many compartments. MOLA, PiETBO Francesco, b, in or near Milan, 1612, d. at Rome, 1668. Bolognese School. He was taken by his father, Gio. Battista Mola, early to Rome, and studied under the Cav, D'Arpino there; he then studied at Venice, and became finally one of the ablest imitators of Francesco Albani at Bologna. He was much influenced by the works of Guercino in his choice of light and shade. Mola was a good figure-painter, whether on a large or small scale : in oil and in fresco ; and his landscapes, representing generally sacred or mythological scenes, indi- cated by the inti'oduction of a few figures, are finely composed. They are strongly coloured, forcible in effect of light and atmosphere, espe- cially in glowing evening scenes. Mola was President of the Academy of St. Luke. He etched a few plates. Works. Rome, church of Gesi!^ (in the chapel), in fresco, St. Peter de- livered from Prison ; and the Conver- sion of Paul : Monte Cavallo, Quirinal Palace, Joseph making himself known to his Brethren. Milan, Sta. Maria della Vittoria, St. John in the Wilder^ ness. Munich, Gallery, the Magda- len ; Hagar and Ishmael. Berlin Gal- lery, Galatea; Mercury and Argus. Louvre, five sacred subjects, and two others. London, National Gallery, St. John preaching; Leda; and the Ri- poso. {Passeri.) MONA, DoMENico, b. 1650, d. 1602. Ferrarese School. The scholar of II Bastaruolo. He painted with surpris- ing rapidity, and executed many works in Ferrara, but the minority extremely careless in execution; he was of a flighty character, and is said to have eventually become deranged. Works. Ferrara, Santa Maria in Vado, the Birth of the Virgin ; and the Nativity: in the cathedral, in the sa- cristy, the Deposition firom the Cross. {Baruffaldi, Lanzi.) MONCALVO. [Caccia.] MONSIGNORI, or BONSIGNORI, Francesco, b. at Verona, 1455, d. near Mantua, 1519. He was the scholar of Andrea Mantegna, and excelled chiefly in portraits, in the painting of animals, and in architectural perspective; but