Allegory of the air, or the bird-catcher

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A pupil of Artus Wolfaerts (1581-1641), and later a member of the painters’ guild of Anvers, Van Mol joined the colony of Flemish painters living in Paris.  A painter to Queen Anne of Austria, he would go on to be one of the twelve founders of the Royal Academy in 1648.  This Bird-catcher, an allegory of the air, is borrowed from his master—a common practice at the time.  The allegory is made subtle by the moving sky, the egret, the bird-hunting trophy, and the swaying cascade of sun-yellow clothing, but this is above all a naturalist composition.  Monumental and powerful, it owes much to Rubens’ teaching and follows “the example of sculptors in accentuating artistic expression”:  a body with powerful musculature, fluid and intense light, richness and vivacity of colours, and generosity of materials.