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Guercino

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Guercino
Self portrait, c. 1635
Born
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri

(1591-02-08)February 8, 1591
Cento
DiedDecember 22, 1666(1666-12-22) (aged 75)
Bologna
NationalityItalian
Known forPainting
MovementBaroque

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666), best known as Guercino,[1] or Il Guercino [ɡwerˈtʃiːno], was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from the region of Emilia, and active in Rome and Bologna. The vigorous naturalism of his early manner is in contrast to the classical equilibrium of his later works. His many drawings are noted for their luminosity and lively style.

Biography

Caravaggio's influence is manifest in this canvas Christ and the Woman of Samaria
Guercino - The Persian Sibyl

He was born in Cento, a village between Bologna and Ferrara. At an early age he acquired the nickname Guercino (Italian for 'squinter') because he was cross-eyed.[2] Mainly self-taught, at the age of 16, he worked as apprentice in the shop of Benedetto Gennari, a painter of the Bolognese School.[3] By 1615, he moved to Bologna, where his work was praised by Ludovico Carracci. Guercino painted two large canvases, Elijah Fed by Ravens and Samson Seized by Philistines, for Cardinal Serra, a Papal Legate to Ferrara. These paintings have a stark naturalist Caravaggesque style, although it is unlikely that Guercino saw any of the Roman Caravaggios first-hand.

The Arcadian Shepherds (Et in Arcadia ego) was painted in 1618 at the same time of The Flaying of Marsyas by Apollo in Palazzo Pitti. Its dramatic composition is typical of Guercino's early works, which are often tumultuous.[4] He often claimed that his early style was influenced by a canvas of Ludovico Carracci that he saw in the Capuchin church in Cento. Some of his later works are closer to the style of his contemporary Guido Reni, and are painted with more lightness and clearness.

Career

Guercino - The Woman taken in Adultery, Dulwich Picture Gallery
Guercino Flagellation of Christ

He was recommended by Marchese Enzo Bentivoglio to the Bolognese Ludovisi Pope, Pope Gregory XV. The years he spent in Rome, 1621–23, were very productive. From this period are his frescoes Aurora at the casino of the Villa Ludovisi, the ceiling in San Crisogono (1622) of San Chrysogonus in Glory, the portrait of Pope Gregory XV (now in the Getty Museum, and The Burial of Saint Petronilla or St. Petronilla Altarpiece for the Vatican (now in the Museo Capitolini), which is considered his masterpiece.

After the death of Gregory XV, Guercino returned to his hometown. In 1626, he began his frescoes in the Duomo of Piacenza. The details of his career after 1629 are well documented in the account book, the Libro dei Conti di Casa Barbieri, that Guercino and his brother Paolo Antonio Barbieri kept updated, and which has been preserved.[5] Between 1618 and 1631, Giovanni Battista Pasqualini produced 67 engravings that document the early production of Guercino, which is not included in the Libro dei Conti.[6] In 1642, following the death of Guido Reni, Guercino moved his busy workshop to Bologna and become the city's principal painter. In 1655, the Franciscan Order of Reggio paid him 300 ducats for the altarpiece of Saint Luke Displaying a Painting of the Madonna and Child (now in Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City).[7] The Corsini also paid him 300 ducats for the Flagellation of Christ painted in 1657.

Guercino was remarkable for the extreme rapidity of his executions: he completed no fewer than 106 large altarpieces for churches, and his other paintings amount to about 144. He was also a prolific draftsman. His production includes many drawings, usually in ink, washed ink, or red chalk. Most of them were made as preparatory studies for his paintings, but he also drew landscapes, genre subjects, and caricatures for his own enjoyment. Guercino's drawings are known for their fluent style in which "rapid, calligraphic pen strokes combined with dots, dashes, and parallel hatching lines describe the forms".[8] Guercino continued to paint and teach until his death in 1666, amassing a notable fortune. As he never married, his estate passed to his nephews and pupils, Benedetto Gennari II and Cesare Gennari.[2] Other pupils include Giulio Coralli,[9] Giuseppe Bonati of Ferrara,[10] Cristoforo Serra of Cesena,[11] Father Cesare Pronti of Ferrara,[12] Sebastiano Ghezzi,[13] Sebastiano Bombelli,[14] Lorenzo Bergonzoni of Bologna,[15] Francesco Paglia of Brescia.,[16] Benedetto Zallone of Cento, and Matteo Loves.

Works

  • Susanna and the Elders, 1617
    Susanna and the Elders, 1617
  • : Return of the Prodigal Son, 1619
    : Return of the Prodigal Son, 1619
  • Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, 1649, National Gallery of Art
    Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, 1649, National Gallery of Art
  • Saint Matthew and the Angel, 1622
    Saint Matthew and the Angel, 1622
  • Capturing Christ
    Capturing Christ
  • Christ and the Woman of Samaria II
    Christ and the Woman of Samaria II
  • St Peter Weeping before the Virgin, 1647
    St Peter Weeping before the Virgin, 1647
  • Mars with Cupid, 1649
    Mars with Cupid, 1649
  • Cleopatra and Octavian, 1649
    Cleopatra and Octavian, 1649
  • Atlas holding up the celestial globe, 1646
    Atlas holding up the celestial globe, 1646
  • St. Cecilia, 1649
    St. Cecilia, 1649
  • David with the Head of Goliath, circa 1650
    David with the Head of Goliath, circa 1650
  • The Vocation of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, 1650
    The Vocation of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, 1650
  • The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1651
    The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1651
  • Personification of Astrology, ca. 1650–55, Blanton Museum of Art, Texas
    Personification of Astrology, ca. 1650–55, Blanton Museum of Art, Texas
  • King David, c. 1768
    King David, c. 1768

Exhibitions

Tomb of Guercino, Santissimo Salvatore, Bologna

The exhibition Guercino. Triumph of the Baroque. Masterpieces of Cento, Rome and Polish collections, displayed at the National Museum in Warsaw from September 2013 to February 2014.[17][18][19][20]

Notes

  1. ^ "Beside the easel". besidetheeasel.blogspot.se. Retrieved 2015. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ a b "Oxford Art Online: Guercino". Oxford University Press. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. ^ Griswold 1991, p. 6
  4. ^ Griswold 1991, p. 13
  5. ^ Griswold 1991, p. 35
  6. ^ M. Fiammenghi, L. Cremonini, E. Cavalleri, F. Gozzi, Sacro e profano nelle Incisioni da Guercino, Bologna, Culturalia, 2006
  7. ^ "Guercino's Saint Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  8. ^ Griswold 1991, p. 36
  9. ^ Orlandi, Pellegrino Antonio; Guarienti, Pietro (1719), Abecedario pittorico, Naples, p. 265
  10. ^ Orlandi, page 207.
  11. ^ Orlandi, page 120.
  12. ^ Orlandi, page 350.
  13. ^ Orlandi, page 399.
  14. ^ Orlandi, page 397.
  15. ^ Orlandi, page 294.
  16. ^ Orlandi, page 171.
  17. ^ The exhibit comprised 80 works, including 33 paintings by Guercino. The exhibition included paintings from the Pinacoteca, churches and palaces of Cento (mnw) as well as the Arcadian Shepherds (Et in Arcadia ego) from the Barberini collection (legitymizm) and the monumental Crucifixion with St Elizabeth of Hungary and St Frances of Rome, the altar painting from the Potocki Chapel in the Wawel Cathedral.(artinfo) The exhibition, curated by Boris Kudlička, was the most extensive European presentation of work by Guercino outside of his home country.(legitymizm)
  18. ^ "Guercino. Triumf baroku. Arcydzieła z Cento, Rzymu i kolekcji polskich". www.new.mnw.art.pl. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  19. ^ "Guercino. Triumf baroku". www.legitymizm.org. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  20. ^ "Guercino. Triumf baroku". www.artinfo.pl. Retrieved 20 May 2014.

References

External videos
video icon Guercino's Saint Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin, Smarthistory
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guercino.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Barbieri, Giovanni Francesco".
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