Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

painter and draftsman from

Cento The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Tur ...

in the Emilia region, who was active in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

. The vigorous naturalism of his early manner contrasts with the classical equilibrium of his later works. His many drawings are noted for their luminosity and lively style.

Biography

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri was born into a family of peasant farmers in

, a town in the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

mid-way between

and

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

.Mahon, 1937a Being cross-eyed, at an early age he acquired the nickname by which he is universally known, Guercino (a

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...

of the Italian noun '' guercio'', meaning 'squinter').Turner, 2003 Mainly self-taught, at the age of 16, he worked as apprentice in the shop of

Benedetto Gennari Benedetto Gennari (1563–1610) was an Italian painter of the early-Baroque period, active mainly in Ferrara and Cento. His birthplace is poorly recorded. He adopted a style influenced by Caravaggio, and by age 19, was working in the household o ...

, a painter of the

Bolognese School The Bolognese School of painting, also known as the ''School of Bologna'', flourished between the 16th and 17th centuries in Bologna, which rivalled Florence and Rome as the center of painting in Italy. Its most important representatives i ...

. An early commission was for the decoration with frescos (1615–1616) of Casa Pannini in Cento, where the naturalism of his

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

s already reveals considerable artistic independence, as do his landscapes on canvas '' Moonlit Landscape'' and ''

Country Concert ''Country Concert'' is a c.1617 oil on canvas painting by Guercino, now in the Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Histo ...

'' from the same era. In Bologna, he was winning the praise of Ludovico Carracci. He always acknowledged that his early style had been influenced by study of a Madonna painted by Ludovico Carracci for the Capuchin church in Cento, affectionately known as "La Carraccina". His painting '' Et in Arcadia ego'' from around 1618–1622 contains the first known usage anywhere of the Latin motto, later taken up by

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...

and others, signifying that death lurks even in the most idyllic setting. The dramatic composition of this canvas (related to his ''Flaying of

Marsyas In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas (; grc-gre, Μαρσύας) is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double oboe ('' aulos'') that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged ...

by Apollo'' (1617–1618) created for The Grand Duke of Tuscany, which shares the same pair of shepherds) is typical of Guercino's early works, which are often tumultuous in conception. He painted two large canvases, ''

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

Seized by Philistines'' (1619) and ''

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...

Fed by Ravens'' (1620), for Cardinal Serra, a Papal Legate to Ferrara.Vivian, 1971 Painted at a time when it is unlikely that Guercino could have seen

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of h ...

's work in Rome, these works nevertheless display a starkly naturalistic Caravaggesque style.

Rome

Guercino - The Woman taken in Adultery - Google Art Project

Guercino was recommended by Marchese

Enzo Bentivoglio Enzo is an Italian given name derivative of the German name Heinz. It can be used also as the short form for Lorenzo, Vincenzo, Innocenzo, or Fiorenzo. It is most common in the Romance-speaking world, particularly in Italy and Latin America but ...

to the newly elected Bolognese Ludovisi Pope,

Pope Gregory XV Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623. Biography Early life Al ...

in 1621. 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 Villa Ludovisi was a suburban villa in Rome, built in the 17th century on the area once occupied by the Gardens of Sallust (''Horti Sallustiani'') near the Porta Salaria. On an assemblage of vineyards purchased from Giovanni Antonio Orsini, ...

, the ceiling in

San Crisogono San Crisogono is a church in Rome (rione Trastevere) dedicated to the martyr Saint Chrysogonus. It was one of the tituli, the first parish churches of Rome, and was probably built in the 4th century under Pope Sylvester I (314–335). ...

(1622) of ''San Chrysogonus in Glory'', the portrait of Pope Gregory XV (now in the

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and ...

), and the '' St. Petronilla Altarpiece'' for

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

in the Vatican (now in the Museo Capitolini).

Return to Bologna

Following the death of Gregory XV in 1623, Guercino returned to his hometown of Cento. In 1626, he began his

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

es in the

Duomo of Piacenza Piacenza Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Piacenza), fully the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta e Santa Giustina, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Piacenza, Italy. The current structure was built between 1122 and 1233 and is one of the most valuable exa ...

. 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 Paolo Antonio Barbieri (1603–1649) was an Italian painter who was the brother of Guercino. He was born at Cento, a village near Bologna. The subjects of his pictures are flowers, fruit, and game, but he particularly excelled in painting fish, wh ...

, a notable painter of

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, bo ...

s, kept updated, and which has been preserved. 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''. In 1642, following the death of his commercial rival

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religi ...

, Guercino moved his busy workshop to Bologna, where he was now able to take over Reni's role as the city's leading painter of sacred subjects. Some of his later works are closer to the style of Reni, and are painted with much greater luminosity and clarity than his early works with their prominent use of chiaroscuro. 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 The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art. In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...

, Kansas City). The Corsini also paid him 300 ducats for the ''Flagellation of Christ'' painted in 1657. San salvatore, bo, int

Works and pupils

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". 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 Benedetto Gennari II (October 19, 1633 – December 9, 1715) was an Italian painter active during the Baroque period. Biography Belonging to a dynasty of painters, Gennari was a student of Guercino, the grandson of Benedetto Gennari, and olde ...

and

Cesare Gennari Cesare Gennari (12 December 1637 – 11 February 1688) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. His ''Saint Mary Magdalene'' is in the Pinacoteca Civica di Cento. His ''Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Nicholas of Bari'' is at the Pinacoteca ...

. Other pupils include

Giulio Coralli Giulio Coralli (born 1641) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Emilia-Romagna. He was a pupil first of Guercino, and then in Milan of Francesco Cairo Francesco Cairo (26 September 1607 – 27 July 1665), also known as Fr ...

Giuseppe Bonati Giuseppe Bonati (1635 – 12 March 1681) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Rome and Ferrara. He is also known as ''Giovannino del Pio'' or ''Giovanni Bonatti''. He initially trained as a pupil of Francesco Costanzo Cattaneo ...

of Ferrara,

Cristoforo Serra Cristoforo Serra (1600–1689) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Cesena. Born in Cesena, Serra is exceptional in that painting was not his full-time vocation, yet he was prolific. He was a militia captain in the Papal troops ...

of Cesena, Father

Cesare Pronti Cesare Pronti (November 30, 1626 – October 22, 1708) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly near Ravenna. Biography He was born at Cattolica, near Rimini, and was brought up at Bologna, training in that city unde ...

of Ferrara, Sebastiano Ghezzi,

Sebastiano Bombelli Sebastiano Bombelli (October 1635; 4 May 1719) was an Italian painter, mainly active in Venice, during the Baroque period. Biography He was born in Udine on 14 or 15 October 1635 (baptized on the 15th), educated and trained under the guidance o ...

, Lorenzo Bergonzoni of Bologna,

Francesco Paglia Francesco Paglia (1636 – c. 1714) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, mainly active in Brescia. Biography He was a pupil of Guercino. He also wrote a description of paintings in Brescia, using both prose and poetry, titled ...

of Brescia., Benedetto Zallone of Cento, Bartolomeo Caravoglia,

Giuseppe Maria Galeppini Giuseppe Maria Galeppini (active 1630–1650)Emilia e Romagna
Corrado Ricci; Istituto Italiano d'Arti Grafiche, Ber ...

of Forli, and

Matteo Loves Matteo Loves was a painter active in Cento The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in ...

Works

File:Moonlight Landscape (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri Guercino) - Nationalmuseum - 20163.tif, ''Moonlit Landscape'' (c. 1616, oil on canvas, 55 × 71 cm,

Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) is the national gallery of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretches far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, the nationalmuseum manage ...

, Stockholm, Sweden). An early, naturalistic landscape. File:Guercino La mietitura.jpg, ''Harvesting'' (1615–1617, fresco, transferred to canvas, 18 × 23.5 cm, Pinacoteca, Cento, Italy). One of the frescos created (with the assistance of

Lorenzo Gennari Lorenzo Gennari (also known as Ariminese; 15951665–72) was an Italian painter. Gennari was born in Cento in 1595 to the painter Benedetto. From 1615–17, Gennari was apprenticed to Guercino and frescoed the Pannini family home in Ce ...

) for Casa Pannini in Cento. (Guercino himself came from a family of peasant farmers.) File:Susana y los viejos (Guercino).jpg, ''Susanna and the Elders'' (1617, oil on canvas, 176 × 208 cm,

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from th ...

, Madrid, Spain) was painted in Bologna for Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi, the future Pope Gregory XV. The dramatic dynamism of this early work contrasts with the studied classicism of the artist's later depiction of the same story in 1649–1650.Posner, 1968 File:Samson Captured by the Philistines MET DT503.jpg, ''Samson Seized by the Philistines'', 1619 This work showcases the biblical scene where Samson the Nazarite is betrayed by his lover Delilah. In the painting Samson is at the center, though is face cannot be seen, and surrounding him are the Philistines who have come to blind him after cutting off his hair, his source of strength. The men holding the tool that will be used to blind Samson can be seen as well as the man holding the scissors that had been used to cut Samson's hair. The figure in the righthand corner is interpreted to either be an angel looking on reminding Samson that his eventual sacrifice to save the Hebrews is right and seen in a good light by God or as an onlooker who was fleeing the scene but could not help from looking back. File:Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, gen. Il Guercino - Gleichnis vom verlorenen Sohn - GG 253 - Kunsthistorisches Museum.jpg, ''Return of the Prodigal Son'', 1619 File:Guercino Guglielmo d'Aquitania.jpg, '' St William Receiving the Monastic Habit'' (1620, oil on canvas, 348.5 × 231 cm,

Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna The National Art Gallery of Bologna (''Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna'') is a museum in Bologna, Italy. It is located in the former Saint Ignatius Jesuit novitiate of the city's University district, and inside the same building that houses the ...

, Italy), painted for St Gregory Church in Bologna, was Guercino's largest ecclesiastical commission at the time and is considered a high point of his early career. File:Guercino - Aurora - WGA10920.jpg, ''Aurora'', (1621, ceiling fresco, tempera, 530 × 1030 cm,

Villa Aurora The Villa Aurora at 520 Paseo Miramar is located in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles and has been used as an artists' residence since 1995. It is the former home of the German-Jewish author Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife Marta. The Feuchtwanger ...

, Rome, Italy) was painted for the pope's nephew, Cardinal

Ludovico Ludovisi Ludovico Ludovisi (22 or 27 October 1595 – 18 November 1632) was an Italian cardinal and statesman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was an art connoisseur who formed a famous collection of antiquities, housed at the Villa Ludovisi in Rome. B ...

. The lively treatment of the Aurora myth challenges the more measured representation of the same subject painted by Guido Reni at Palazzo Rospigliosi on behalf of a Ludovisi family

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

and makes a statement of political triumph. File:Guercino Catura di Cristo.jpg, ''Capturing Christ'', 1621 File:Guercino - Saint Matthew and the Angel - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Saint Matthew and the Angel'', 1622 File:Guercino_Morte_di_Didone.jpg, ''La morte di Didone'', 1631 File:Guercino Christ et la samaritaine.jpg, ''Christ and the Woman of Samaria'' II, c. 1640–1641 File:Atlas holding up the celestial globe - Guercino (1646).jpg, ''Atlas holding up the celestial globe'', 1646 File:Guercino - St Peter Weeping before the Virgin - WGA10949.jpg, ''St Peter Weeping before the Virgin'', 1647 File:Guercino - Mars with Cupid - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Mars with Cupid'', 1649 File:Guercino - Cleopatra and Octavian - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Cleopatra and Octavian'', 1649 File:Joseph and Potiphar's Wife - Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino, 1649 - NG Wash DC.jpg, ''Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'', 1649,

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...

File:Guercino - St. Cecilia - Google Art Project.jpg , ''St. Cecilia'', 1649 File:Guercino Susanna and The Elders Parma.jpg, ''Susanna and the Elders'', 1650 File:Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) - David with the Head of Goliath - Google Art Project.jpg, ''David with the Head of Goliath'', circa 1650 File:The Vocation of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.PNG, ''The Vocation of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga'', 1650 File:Guercino Astrologia.jpg, ''Personification of Astrology'', ca. 1650–1655,

Blanton Museum of Art The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art (often referred to as the Blanton or the BMA) at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest university art museums in the U.S. with 189,340 square feet devoted to temporary exhibitions, permanent col ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

File:Guercino Return of the prodigal son.jpg, ''The Return of the Prodigal Son'', 1651 File:'King David', painting by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (il Guercino) c. 1768.jpg, ''King David'', 1651 Samson and Delilah mg 0034.jpg, ''

Samson and Delilah Samson and Delilah are Biblical figures. Samson and Delilah may also refer to: In music * ''Samson and Delilah'' (opera), an opera by Camille Saint-Saëns * ''Samson & Delilah'' (album), released in 2013 by V V Brown * "Samson and Delilah" (t ...

'', 1654 File:Guercino,_sogno_di_s._giuseppe.JPG, '' Saint Joseph's Dream'', 1600-1650 File:Guercino,_san_girolamo_penitente.JPG, ''

Saint Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

'', c.1640-1650

Exhibitions

A groundbreaking exhibition held at the

Archiginnasio of Bologna The Archiginnasio of Bologna is one of the most important buildings in the city of Bologna; once the main building of the University of Bologna, it currently houses the Archiginnasio Municipal Library and the Anatomical Theatre. In the heart of ...

in 1968 provided the most complete panorama of Guercino's work to date, including paintings from the later parts of his career after the death of Pope Gregory XV, which had previously attracted relatively little attention. For the fourth centenary of the artist's birth in 1991, an expanded exhibition was organized by the

in conjunction with the

Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt The Schirn Kunsthalle is a Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany, located in the old city between the Römer and the Frankfurt Cathedral. The Schirn exhibits both modern and contemporary art. It is the main venue for temporary art exhibitions in Fr ...

and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Both these exhibitions were curated by Guercino's biggest modern champion,

Denis Mahon Sir John Denis Mahon, (8 November 1910 – 24 April 2011) was a British collector and historian of Italian art. Considered to be one of the few art collectors who was also a respected scholar, he is generally credited, alongside Sacheverel ...

, who was responsible for their catalogues. In 2011–2012, a large exhibition was displayed at

Palazzo Barberini The Palazzo Barberini ( en, Barberini Palace) is a 17th-century palace in Rome, facing the Piazza Barberini in Rione Trevi. Today, it houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, the main national collection of older paintings in Rome. History ...

in Rome, dedicated to the memory of Mahon, who had recently died. An exhibition displayed at the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

in 2013–2014 offered another extensive presentation of the artist's work.

Citations

References

;Books and articles on Guercino * * * * * * * . * * * * * * * *