MOCHI, Francesco

The Late Renaissance Classicism passed into the early Baroque in the early works of of Mochi, the Annunciation figures from Orvieto Cathedral. The most striking quality of Mochi’s figures is their clarity and simple directness; they have none of the empty rhetorical gestures of much Mannerist art, and so illustrate admirably the Counter-Reformation demands for intelligibility and realism.

See also the Virgin Annunciate.

Around 1600 Mochi attracted the attention of Duke Mario Farnese (d. 1619), who secured for him his first independent commission, the large marble Annunciation group for Orvieto Cathedral (now in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo). Originally placed on opposite sides of the high altar, the two free-standing figures of the Virgin and the Angel Gabriel electrify the broad space between them by their complementary gestures and powerful emotions.

The treatment of the Annunciation as an unfolding drama broke decisively with earlier sculptural traditions, which focused on self-contained, individual figures. Often considered the first truly Baroque sculpture of the 17th century, Mochi’s innovations compare to those of the early Roman Baroque painters Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci.

Having ranked among Rome’s best sculptors in the early 1630s, Mochi was soon overshadowed by Bernini and Alessandro Algardi. During the last twenty years of his career Mochi had only five significant commissions, and two of these were withdrawn and awarded to Bernini and Algardi. The marble group of the Baptism (c. 1634-50; Palazzo Braschi, Rome) and his Sts Peter and Paul (1638-52; Porta del Popolo, Rome) were both rejected by their patrons and subsequently installed in locations other than those for which they had been intended.

These late ‘expressionistic’ works have generated more discussion than any other aspect of Mochi’s career. One interpretation suggests that they are reversions to Florentine Mannerism, while another compares them to a trend in painting of the late 1630s and 1640s that emphasized an internalization of emotion and a dematerialization of form.

The Baptism of Christ carved for San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome was not installed; the group was subsequently placed on the Milvian Bridge, and is now in the Museo di Palazzo Braschi.

The statue originally was intended for the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome.

The photo shows the Baptism group at the ground floor vestibule of Palazzo Braschi.

The photo shows the Baptism group at the entrance of Ponte Milvio, seen from Piazzale di Ponte Milvio.

Bernini’s radical reformulation of the portrait bust had an inevitable effect on his followers and competitors. Of his competitors, only the older Francesco Mochi explored what could be termed an alternative style. His bust of papal nephew, Cardinal Antonio Barberini, part of a series of family portraits commissioned by Urban VIII in the late 1620s, seems almost a reversion to the austerity of late sixteenth-century sepulchral monuments. The features have been simplified, and the drapery and hair reduced to almost formal patterns, but the combination of an especially long torso and the delicate handling of the features makes for a portrait that is both imposing and sensitive. More abstract than contemporary taste, Mochi’s portraiture nonetheless anticipated qualities that would be more highly valued in the eighteenth century.

Mochi’s art is distinguished by energetic lines, dramatic movement, and subtle psychology. Here a taut precision characterizes the youth’s garment, and a carefully composed rhythm governs Mochi’s virtuoso treatment of the corkscrew curls. In contrast to the greater precision of the hair and drapery, the wistful expression of the youth, with his slightly parted lips, endows the sculpture with life.

This work may have been conceived as a portrait, but it is more likely a biblical or mythological subject. The almost transcendent expression suggests that the sculpture may represent a religious figure, such as the youthful St John the Baptist. Its small scale suggests that the work was intended as an object for private contemplation.

In 1612 Ranuccio I Farnese, the reigning Duke of Parma, called Mochi to Piacenza to execute two monumental bronze equestrian statues for Piazza Cavalli, the central piazza in Piacenza, one of the Duke himself and the other of his late father, Alessandro Farnese. The Farnese had recently put down an uprising in Piacenza, and Mochi seems to have designed the statues to make an explicit political statement.

The statue of Ranuccio Farnese, executed first, is linked in style and type to earlier Renaissance models that depicted the rider as peacemaker and statesman, for example Giambologna’s Cosimo de’ Medici I (1587-93). However, in the statue of Alessandro Farnese, Mochi broke entirely new ground to create the first dynamic equestrian monument of the Baroque. In an unprecedented manner, he used the device of a billowing cloak to unify the rider with the bulk of the horse and to create the illusion of warlike energy. The two statues presented Piacenza with a clear choice between obeisance to an enlightened prince, Ranuccio, or a return to the repressive tactics of an earlier time. Gestures of the riders and the inward tilt of the horses’ heads unify the monumental bronzes across the piazza and assert the dynastic continuity of the Farnese.

During the casting, Mochi quarrelled with the founder and took over the job himself; other than Domenico Guidi, he was the only major Roman sculptor with the expertise to cast his own work.

After he had modelled the Ranuccio horse, Mochi went to Padua and Venice to study Donatello’s Gattamelata and Verrocchio’s Colleoni and the horses of St Mark’s, but this cultural enrichment only brought about a few modifications in the representation of the rider. The dynamic element in the Alessandro group contrasts with the heaviness of the Ranuccio monument, which is much closer to that of Marcus Aurelius. Here the horse, foaming at the mouth, and the rider with his wind whipped cloak form an impressive unity, vibrating with movement and light, whereby the artist achieves great stylistic coherence.

From 1612 to 1629 Mochi stayed with brief interruptions in the service of Ranuccio Farnese and created there the first dynamic equestrian statues of the Baroque, breaking decisively with the tradition of Giambologna’s school. The first of the two monuments, that of Ranuccio Farnese (1612-20), is to a certain extent still linked to the past, while the later, Alessandro Farnese’s (1620-25), breaks entirely new ground. Imbued with a magnificent sweep, the old problem of unifying rider and horse is here solved in an unprecedented way. Never before, moreover, had the figure of the rider held its own so emphatically against the bulk of the horse’s body.

The difference in the characterization of the figures of the equestrian statues is borne out by the reliefs beneath; those on the statue of Ranuccio Farnese are allegories of good government and peace, while those on the statue of Alessandro Farnese illustrate military scenes.

The picture shows one of the two reliefs on the statue of Alessandro Farnese.

The difference in the characterization of the figures of the equestrian statues is borne out by the reliefs beneath; those on the statue of Ranuccio Farnese are allegories of good government and peace, while those on the statue of Alessandro Farnese illustrate military scenes.

The picture shows one of the two reliefs on the statue of Alessandro Farnese.

The detail shows putti holding Alessandro Farnese’s coat of arms.

Mochi was an early representant of the Baroque sculpture. With his dynamic style he can be considered as a forerunner of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. He initiated the transformation of the Renaissance equestrian statues into the more dynamic Baroque type. His two works, the equestrian statues of Ranuccio and Francesco Farnese stand in the main square of Piacenza. In the latter the relation of the horse and rider is very well resolved.

When in 1612 the Piacenza authorities decided to set up twin equestrian monuments, one to Ranuccio Farnese, the ruling duke, and the other to his father, Alessandro, they did not commission the pupils of Giovanni da Bologna, who held the monopoly for equestrian statues, but called upon the young Tuscan artist Francesco Mochi. After completing the sketches, the artist had a quarrel with the founder and cast the bronzes himself. In the earlier statue of Ranuccio, Mochi is still steeped in Mannerist culture, but in the Alessandro monument he succeeded in breaking new ground, creating a powerful, moving work, whose originality was not grasped by his contemporaries.

In 1612 Ranuccio I Farnese, the reigning Duke of Parma, called Mochi to Piacenza to execute two monumental bronze equestrian statues for Piazza Cavalli, the central piazza in Piacenza, one of the Duke himself and the other of his late father, Alessandro Farnese. The Farnese had recently put down an uprising in Piacenza, and Mochi seems to have designed the statues to make an explicit political statement.

The statue of Ranuccio Farnese, executed first, is linked in style and type to earlier Renaissance models that depicted the rider as peacemaker and statesman, for example Giambologna’s Cosimo de’ Medici I (1587-93). However, in the statue of Alessandro Farnese, Mochi broke entirely new ground to create the first dynamic equestrian monument of the Baroque. In an unprecedented manner, he used the device of a billowing cloak to unify the rider with the bulk of the horse and to create the illusion of warlike energy. The two statues presented Piacenza with a clear choice between obeisance to an enlightened prince, Ranuccio, or a return to the repressive tactics of an earlier time. Gestures of the riders and the inward tilt of the horses’ heads unify the monumental bronzes across the piazza and assert the dynastic continuity of the Farnese.

During the casting, Mochi quarrelled with the founder and took over the job himself; other than Domenico Guidi, he was the only major Roman sculptor with the expertise to cast his own work.

In 1612 Ranuccio I Farnese, the reigning Duke of Parma, called Mochi to Piacenza to execute two monumental bronze equestrian statues for Piazza Cavalli, the central piazza in Piacenza, one of the Duke himself and the other of his late father, Alessandro Farnese. The Farnese had recently put down an uprising in Piacenza, and Mochi seems to have designed the statues to make an explicit political statement.

The statue of Ranuccio Farnese, executed first, is linked in style and type to earlier Renaissance models that depicted the rider as peacemaker and statesman, for example Giambologna’s Cosimo de’ Medici I (1587-93). However, in the statue of Alessandro Farnese, Mochi broke entirely new ground to create the first dynamic equestrian monument of the Baroque. In an unprecedented manner, he used the device of a billowing cloak to unify the rider with the bulk of the horse and to create the illusion of warlike energy. The two statues presented Piacenza with a clear choice between obeisance to an enlightened prince, Ranuccio, or a return to the repressive tactics of an earlier time. Gestures of the riders and the inward tilt of the horses’ heads unify the monumental bronzes across the piazza and assert the dynastic continuity of the Farnese.

During the casting, Mochi quarrelled with the founder and took over the job himself; other than Domenico Guidi, he was the only major Roman sculptor with the expertise to cast his own work.

In 1612 Ranuccio I Farnese, the reigning Duke of Parma, called Mochi to Piacenza to execute two monumental bronze equestrian statues for Piazza Cavalli, the central piazza in Piacenza, one of the Duke himself and the other of his late father, Alessandro Farnese. The Farnese had recently put down an uprising in Piacenza, and Mochi seems to have designed the statues to make an explicit political statement.

The statue of Ranuccio Farnese, executed first, is linked in style and type to earlier Renaissance models that depicted the rider as peacemaker and statesman, for example Giambologna’s Cosimo de’ Medici I (1587-93). However, in the statue of Alessandro Farnese, Mochi broke entirely new ground to create the first dynamic equestrian monument of the Baroque. In an unprecedented manner, he used the device of a billowing cloak to unify the rider with the bulk of the horse and to create the illusion of warlike energy. The two statues presented Piacenza with a clear choice between obeisance to an enlightened prince, Ranuccio, or a return to the repressive tactics of an earlier time. Gestures of the riders and the inward tilt of the horses’ heads unify the monumental bronzes across the piazza and assert the dynastic continuity of the Farnese.

During the casting, Mochi quarrelled with the founder and took over the job himself; other than Domenico Guidi, he was the only major Roman sculptor with the expertise to cast his own work.

The picture shows one of the two reliefs with the Allegory of Good Government on the equestrian statue of Ranuccio Farnese. While the equestrian statue heralds the arrival of the High Baroque, the handling of the reliefs on the base, on the other hand, continues to look to Bolognese classicism.

The picture shows a detail of the relief Allegory of Good Government on the equestrian statue of Ranuccio Farnese. While the equestrian statue heralds the arrival of the High Baroque, the handling of the reliefs on the base, on the other hand, continues to look to Bolognese classicism.

The picture shows one of the two reliefs with the Allegory of Good Government on the equestrian statue of Ranuccio Farnese. While the equestrian statue heralds the arrival of the High Baroque, the handling of the reliefs on the base, on the other hand, continues to look to Bolognese classicism.

The detail shows putti holding Ranuccio Farnese’s coat of arms.

Mochi obtained a major commission from Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII, for a St Martha for his family chapel in Sant’Andrea della Valle. The Barberini Chapel was a showcase for the most talented Roman sculptors in the era of Bernini’s emergence, and Mochi competed there with the likes of Ambrogio Bonvicino and Pietro Bernini, Gianlorenzo’s father.

Mochi’s figure is tense and probably overly motivated for the narrow confines of the niche yet it has a vigour. Mochi’s work often displays an idiosyncratic, at times obstinately individualistic flair which made him stand out among a mediocre range of competitors.

After returning to Rome in 1610, Mochi assisted Mariani and, a year later, stepped in to complete several commissions for Santa Maria Maggiore that had been left unfinished at Mariani’s death. In 1611 he was engaged in the Cappella Paolina to carve the statue of St Matthew.

Having ranked among Rome’s best sculptors in the early 1630s, Mochi was soon overshadowed by Bernini and Alessandro Algardi. During the last twenty years of his career Mochi had only five significant commissions, and two of these were withdrawn and awarded to Bernini and Algardi. The marble group of the Baptism (c. 1634–50; Palazzo Braschi, Rome) and his Sts Peter and Paul (1638–52; Porta del Popolo, Rome) were both rejected by their patrons and subsequently installed in locations other than those for which they had been intended.

These late ‘expressionistic’ works have generated more discussion than any other aspect of Mochi’s career. One interpretation suggests that they are reversions to Florentine Mannerism, while another compares them to a trend in painting of the late 1630s and 1640s that emphasized an internalization of emotion and a dematerialization of form.

The statues of St Peter and St Paul were intended for San Paolo fuori le Mura but are now on the Porta del Popolo in Rome.

Having ranked among Rome’s best sculptors in the early 1630s, Mochi was soon overshadowed by Bernini and Alessandro Algardi. During the last twenty years of his career Mochi had only five significant commissions, and two of these were withdrawn and awarded to Bernini and Algardi. The marble group of the Baptism (c. 1634–50; Palazzo Braschi, Rome) and his Sts Peter and Paul (1638–52; Porta del Popolo, Rome) were both rejected by their patrons and subsequently installed in locations other than those for which they had been intended.

These late ‘expressionistic’ works have generated more discussion than any other aspect of Mochi’s career. One interpretation suggests that they are reversions to Florentine Mannerism, while another compares them to a trend in painting of the late 1630s and 1640s that emphasized an internalization of emotion and a dematerialization of form.

The statues of St Peter and St Paul were intended for San Paolo fuori le Mura but are now on the Porta del Popolo in Rome.

In 1629 Mochi received a commission for what is probably his best-known work, the giant marble statue of St Veronica in St Peter’s, Rome. At the request of Pope Urban VIII (Maffeo Barberini), Gian Lorenzo Bernini had begun a massive reconstruction of the crossing of St Peter’s in 1626. His design called for great niches in the crossing piers to be filled with monumental saints carved by Rome’s leading sculptors: Bernini, Mochi, Fran�ois Duquesnoy and Andrea Bolgi. Bernini provided models for three of the statues but gave Mochi free reign with the Veronica. Influenced by Hellenistic sculpture, Mochi conceived his figure in strongly emotional terms. The saint, in agony, holds the sudarium in trembling outstretched hands. Spiralling, thin, drapery folds create an illusion of motion, as though the figure is rushing forth from the niche.

The agitated figure seems about to burst out of its niche in order to present the viewer with the miraculous imprint of Christ’s countenance. The eighteenth-century critic Giovanni Battista Passeri famously objected to Veronica’s movement, which seemed contradictory to the static nature of statuary, but praised the extraordinary carving of the drapery and the cloth on which Christ’s face was imprinted.

Compared to the heroic calm of the figures designed by Bernini, especially the statue he carved of St Longinus, the Veronica is frenzied, jarring and inconsistent with the majestic tone of the crossing. Mochi’s very personal vision was here out of place.

This sculpture is a good example of the Baroque attitude to art, of its striving to represent feelings and passions by movement and action.

In 1612 Ranuccio I Farnese, the reigning Duke of Parma, called Mochi to Piacenza to execute two monumental bronze equestrian statues for Piazza Cavalli, the central piazza in Piacenza, one of the Duke himself and the other of his late father, Alessandro Farnese. The Farnese had recently put down an uprising in Piacenza, and Mochi seems to have designed the statues to make an explicit political statement.

The statue of Ranuccio Farnese, executed first, is linked in style and type to earlier Renaissance models that depicted the rider as peacemaker and statesman, for example Giambologna’s Cosimo de’ Medici I (1587-93). However, in the statue of Alessandro Farnese, Mochi broke entirely new ground to create the first dynamic equestrian monument of the Baroque. In an unprecedented manner, he used the device of a billowing cloak to unify the rider with the bulk of the horse and to create the illusion of warlike energy. The two statues presented Piacenza with a clear choice between obeisance to an enlightened prince, Ranuccio, or a return to the repressive tactics of an earlier time. Gestures of the riders and the inward tilt of the horses’ heads unify the monumental bronzes across the piazza and assert the dynastic continuity of the Farnese.

During the casting, Mochi quarrelled with the founder and took over the job himself; other than Domenico Guidi, he was the only major Roman sculptor with the expertise to cast his own work.

The photo shows the Piazza Cavalli with the equestrian staues of Alessandro Farnese (in the foreground) and Ranuccio Farnese.

In 1612 Ranuccio I Farnese, the reigning Duke of Parma, called Mochi to Piacenza to execute two monumental bronze equestrian statues for Piazza Cavalli, the central piazza in Piacenza, one of the Duke himself and the other of his late father, Alessandro Farnese. The Farnese had recently put down an uprising in Piacenza, and Mochi seems to have designed the statues to make an explicit political statement.

The statue of Ranuccio Farnese, executed first, is linked in style and type to earlier Renaissance models that depicted the rider as peacemaker and statesman, for example Giambologna’s Cosimo de’ Medici I (1587-93). However, in the statue of Alessandro Farnese, Mochi broke entirely new ground to create the first dynamic equestrian monument of the Baroque. In an unprecedented manner, he used the device of a billowing cloak to unify the rider with the bulk of the horse and to create the illusion of warlike energy. The two statues presented Piacenza with a clear choice between obeisance to an enlightened prince, Ranuccio, or a return to the repressive tactics of an earlier time. Gestures of the riders and the inward tilt of the horses’ heads unify the monumental bronzes across the piazza and assert the dynastic continuity of the Farnese.

During the casting, Mochi quarrelled with the founder and took over the job himself; other than Domenico Guidi, he was the only major Roman sculptor with the expertise to cast his own work.

The photo shows the Piazza Cavalli with the equestrian staues of Alessandro Farnese and Ranuccio Farnese (in the background).

The statues of St Peter and St Paul were intended for San Paolo fuori le Mura but are now on the outer fa�ade of Porta del Popolo in Rome.

The statues of St Peter and St Paul were intended for San Paolo fuori le Mura but are now on the outer fa�ade of Porta del Popolo in Rome.

Mochi first achieved fame with his Angel of Annunciation of 1603-05 for the Orvieto Cathedral, a work whose vigour and directness reflect the artist’s earnestness in reformulating a conventional theme. Three years lie between the Angel of Annunciation and the Virgin Annunciate which completed the composition. Here Mochi evoked reminiscences of Rome, in particular the suavity of Mariani and the more active type of Classical statuary, but added his own flair for dramatic gestures by showing the Virgin starting from her chair. Mochi’s work has sometimes been explained as a response to Caravaggio, yet it is better understood as part of a general concern with conveying emotions through external expressions, something manifests in the work of Carracci and Reni, as well as that of Caravaggio. Interestingly enough, the forcefulness of Mochi’s Virgin Annunciate was not to the liking of the Bishop of Orvieto, who opposed its placement in the cathedral for three years.

See also the Angel of Annunciation.