Youth Reading 1612 - 1666

Pier Francesco Mola's "Youth Reading" (1612-1666) is a brown wash drawing on paper of a young man seated with a book in his lap. The figure's pose, with the right arm extended outward and the left hand holding the book, suggests a moment of contemplation and study. The artist's use of washes creates a sense of volume and depth, adding to the realism of the figure. This drawing, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, demonstrates Mola's skill in capturing the human form with an economy of line and subtle shading.