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iGUERCI William M. Griswold

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

THE METROPOLITAN

MUSEUM

OF ART BULLETIN-Spring

1991

VolumeXLVIII, Number 4 (ISSN 0026-1521) Published quarterly ? 1991 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10028-0198. Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y., and Additional Mailing Offices. The MetropolitanMuseum of Art Bulletin is provided as a benefit to Museum members and available by subscription. Subscriptions $22.00 a year. Single copies $5.95. Four weeks' notice required for change of address. POSTMASTER:Send address changes to Membership Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1ooo Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 100280198. Back issues available on microfilm from University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106. Volumes I-XXXVII (1905-1942) available as a clothbound reprint set or as individual yearly volumes from Ayer Company Publishers, Inc., 5o Northwestern Drive #1o, Salem, N.H. 03079, or from the Museum, Box 700, Middle Village, N.Y. 11379. General Manager of Publications: John P. O'Neill. Editor in Chief of the Bulletin: Joan Holt. Assistant Editor: Tonia Payne. Production: Matthew Pimm. Design: Bruce Campbell.

DIRECTOR'S

NOTE

This year marksthe four hundredthanniversaryof the birth of the BolognesepainterGiovanniFrancescoBarbieri,better known as Guercino.This issue of the Bulletinwas plannedto celebratethat date and to presentto our readersthe two splendidpaintings,eighteen drawings,and one etching that The MetropolitanMuseumof Art possessesby this majorartist.

Guercinowas a prodigiousdraughtsmanwho createdcomposition and figure studies that are among the finest in the history of Italian drawings.Many of the artist'sworkson paperbelongingto the Museumcan be relatedto his paintings.The first to enter the collection, the pen sketchof a youth and young woman in a chariot includedin a groupof 670 drawingspresentedby CorneliusVanderbilt over a hundredyears ago, was probablymade in preparationfor Guercino'sfrescoof RinaldoandArmidain the PalazzoCostaguti, Rome. One of the drawingspurchasedin 1908 by RogerFry, a formercuratorof paintingsand the Museum'sagent in Londonfrom 1907 to 1910, is a vibrantstudy for the artist'searly masterpiece, Saint WilliamReceivingthe MonasticHabit. In 1912 the Museum purchaseda pen study for Guercino'sCimmerianSibyl, as well as an independentsketch,the charmingFireworksin a Piazza, our only landscapeby Guercinoalthoughhe executedmany duringhis lifetime. The majorityof the Museum'sGuercinodrawingshave been acquiredby purchaseor bequestsince 1961, when the Department of Drawingswas establishedunderthe curatorshipof JacobBean.

The most recentacquisitionis the lively but puzzling Diablerie, purchasedin 199o with funds bequeathedby Harry G. Sperling.

Both paintingsby Guercinoin the MetropolitanMuseumare gifts of Mr. and Mrs. CharlesWrightsman:the imposingand sereneSaint Aloysius Gonzaga,a late work, came to us in 1973, and Samson Capturedby the Philistines,a dramaticearly composition,was presentedin 1984. Guercinois thus representedin the Museumby worksof outstandingquality in a variety of mediaand from every stage of his long and immensely productivecareer.

This Bulletin,in which all the worksby Guercinoin the MetropolitanMuseumare illustrated,was written by William M. Griswold,assistantcuratorin the Departmentof Drawings.

PHILIPPE DE MONTEBELLO

Director

3

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a letter of October25, 1617, LudovicoCarraccienthusiastically recordedthe arrivalin Bolognaof a young man from the nearbytown of Cento. Ludovicowrote that "he was an excellent draughtsmanand an outstandingcolorist"whose talent astounded the best paintersin the city. By the middleof the seventeenthcentury the artist in question-Giovanni FrancescoBarbieri,called Guercino-was famousthroughoutEurope.

CarloCesareMalvasia'sFelsinapittrice,a history of Bolognese paintingfirst publishedin 1678, is the richestearly sourceof information aboutGuercino'slife and artistic accomplishments.According to Malvasia,"[Guercino]painted106 altarpieces,and 144 pictures for variousprinces,includingPopesGregory[xv], Urban[viii], Innocent[x], and Alexander[vii], as well as for the emperorand empress,the kings of France,Spain,and England,the queenof France, the dukesand duchessesof Savoy,Tuscany,Modena,and Mantua, and other princes,cardinals,and ambassadors."In 1625 Guercino was askedby King Charlesi to come to England,and in 1639 he receiveda similarinvitationfrom King Louisxiii of France.The artist declinedboth requests,preferringto remainin his native Emilia,where he maintaineda busy workshopuntil his deathin Decemberi666.

During Guercino'slifetime Romewas the artistic capitalof Europe,and it was there that the first quintessentiallyBaroque pictureswere paintedin aboutI6oo by MichelangeloMerisi da In

Caravaggio (1571-1610)

1. Filippo Germisoni (1684-1743).

Portrait of Guercino. The sheet is one of 225 drawn portraits and self-portraits of artists commissioned during the first quarter of the eighteenth century by Nicola Pio, author of a manuscript biography of painters, sculptors, and architects that is now in the Vatican Library. Executed some fifty years after Guercino'sdeath, Germisoni's portrait was evidently inspired by an earlier sketch by Ottavio Leoni that is now in the Biblioteca Marucelliana at Florence.

Black and red chalk, heightened with white. i31/4 x 91/4 in. (33.5 x 23.5 cm).

Stockholm, Nationalmuseum

and Annibale Carracci (1560-1609).

Al-

though the dramaticlighting and rustic figuretypes characteristicof early paintingsby Guercinosuperficiallyresemblethose in worksby Caravaggio,the similaritybetweenthem is incidental.Guercinowas, however,greatlyinfluencedby the style of two talentedfollowersof AnnibaleCarracci:DomenicoZampieri,calledDomenichino(15811641), and Guido Reni (1575-1642).

The classical restraint of paint-

ings executedby Guercinotowardthe end of his life reflectsthe austerestyle of picturesby these artists. Paintedin delicate,pastel hues, Guercino'slate workspossess a solemn grandeurthat sets them apartfrom the tumultuouscompositionsof his youth.

Guercino'spaintingshave alwaysbeen esteemedby collectors,and duringthe eighteenthcenturyhis workwas particularlysought after in England.Indeed,more than half of the paintingsand drawingsby Guercinoin the MetropolitanMuseumhave Britishprovenances.

One of his Englishadmirerswas the portraitistSir JoshuaReynolds 5

(1723-1792). A sketchbook by Reynolds in the Museum contains detailed notes about his Italian journey of 1750 to 1752, as well as

pencil sketchesafter some of the worksof art that Reynoldssaw on his travels.Among the numerouspaintingsrecordedin this sketchbook are no fewer than six by Guercino,includingan "Est[h]er Fainting[and]King Ahasuerus"that Reynoldscharacterizedas "on[e] of [Guercino's]best." A copy of this paintingon page 1o6 of the sketchbookis typical of Reynolds'sschematicrenderingsof Guercino'sworks (fig. 2). The painting,which representsthe young Queen Estherswooningbeforethe king of Persiaafter interceding with him on behalf of the Jews,dates from 1639 (fig. 3). Soon after it was finished,CardinalAntonio Barberinipresentedit to his brotherPopeUrbanviii, and the picturewas still in the possessionof the Barberinifamily when Reynoldssaw it in Romein the mideighteenthcentury; the paintingnow hangs in the Universityof MichiganMuseumof Art at Ann Arbor.

Recentresearchhas shed much new light upon Guercino's prodigiousartistic output. In Studiesin SeicentoArt and Theorypublishedin 1947 and unfortunatelylong out of print-and in cataloguesof exhibitionssuch as the one held in the Palazzo at Bolognain 1968, Sir Denis Mahonhas traced dell'Archiginnasio the developmentof the artist's style and clarifiedinnumerableissues concerningthe chronologyand attributionof Guercino'spaintings and drawings.The authorwishes to acknowledgehis profounddebt to this fundamentalcontributionto the study of seventeenth-century Bolognesepainting.

iovanni FrancescoBarbieriwas born in early February 1591 outside Cento,a small agriculturaltown halfway between Ferraraand Bologna.Little is knownabouthis childhood,but he acquiredhis nickname-guercino is the diminutive form of guercio(cross-eyed)-at an early age. Accordingto Malvasia'sbiographyof Guercinoin Felsinapittrice,this condition was the result of a bizarreaccident:while in the careof an irresponsiblenursemaid,GiovanniFrancescolost the ability to move his right eye when he was awakenedby a loud noise. Whatever Malvasia'scredibilityregardingthe origin of Guercino'sstrabismus, this opticaldefect is clearlyvisible in likenessesof the artist (fig. 1).

Guercinowas essentially self-taught.Malvasiastates that in 1607, at the age of sixteen, he was apprenticedto a local artist, Benedetto Gennarithe elder,after which he studiedbrieflyin Bolognawith PaoloZagnoniand with GiovanniBattistaCremonini,a fresco painterwho-like Guercino-originally came from Cento. Before long, however,Guercinoreturnedto his hometownand to the

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2. Sir Joshua Reynolds (17231792). Esther before Ahasuerus, after Guercino. This drawing from a sketchbook used by Reynolds when he was in Italy records a painting by Guercino that he saw in the Palazzo Barberini, Rome (fig. 3). Graphite.

71/2 x 5 in. (19.1 x 12.7 cm).

Gift of William A. White, 1918 (18.121)

3. Guercino. Esther before Ahasuerus, 1639. Oil on canvas.

627/8 x 84l/2 in. (159.7 x 214.6 cm).

Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Museum of Art

7

4. Guercino.TobiasandtheAngel,

Gennariworkshop,where he eventuallybecamea senior partner.

Among Guercino'searliestsurviving paintingsare the frescoeshe executedin privatehouses such as the CasaPanniniat Cento. The CasaPanninifrescoeswere detachedfrom the walls of the house during the nineteenthcentury, and many of them are now in the local Pinacoteca,a small museumthat is singularlyrich in worksby Guercino.The frescoes,which were commissionedfrom Guercinoin 1615 and paintedin part by the masterand in part by assistants,representthe stories of Ulysses and of TorquatoTasso'sRinaldoand Armida,in additionto mythologicaland allegoricalfigures, horses, hunting scenes, and landscapes.In compositiona numberof the Casa Panninifrescoesderive from engravingsby the Florentinepainter and printmakerAntonio Tempesta(1555-1630), but in style they are closerto worksby artists from neighboringFerrara.

The most importantpainteractive in Ferraraat the beginningof the seventeenthcentury was IppolitoScarsella,called Scarsellino 8

ca. 1617. Oil on copper. 13'/4 x 171/2 in.

(33.7 x 44.5 cm). New York,Mr. and Mrs. RobertManning

(ca. 1550-1620). Scarsellinowas greatly influencedby earlier Ferrareseartists, particularly by Dosso Dossi (ca. 1490-1542),

whose painterlystyle was in turn loosely basedupon that of Titian.

Both Scarsellino'ssumptuouspaletteand his sensuoushandlingof paint are reflectedin early worksby Guercino.

The impactof Ferraresepaintingis apparentin a small, early picture by Guercinoin the collectionof Mr. and Mrs. RobertManning (fig. 4). This painting,which dates from aboutthe same time as the CasaPanninifrescoes,is probablyone of two landscapesattributedto Guercinoin the 1686 inventoryof the possessionsof PrinceUrbano Barberini.It is paintedon copper,a supportthat the artist occasionally used for cabinetpicturesof this type. The subjectis taken from the apocryphalOld Testamentbook of Tobit:Tobias,son of the blind Tobit,undertooka journey to Mediawith his dog and the ArchangelRaphaelin orderto collect money owed his father. "As they proceededon their way they came at evening to the Tigris River and campedthere. Then the young man went down to wash himself.

A fish leapedup from the river and would have swallowedthe young man; and the angel said to him, 'Catchthe fish.' So the young man seized the fish and threw it up on the land"(Tobit6:1-3). Tobias laterused the heart and liver of the fish to exorcizethe demonthat possessedhis wife, Sarah,and the gall to cure Tobit'sblindness.In the paintingby Guercino,Tobiasstandsknee-deepin the Tigris, his handsraisedin fear and astonishment,while Raphaelpoints to the fish and instructshim to captureit. The pictureis freely paintedin the glowing colorstypical of Guercino'sworksfrom this period.

In 1987 the MetropolitanMuseumacquiredone of three known studiesfor an altarpiecepaintedby Guercinofor the churchof San Francescoat Brisighella,a small town near Faenza(figs. 5, 6). This spiriteddrawingmust have been executednot long after the picture in the Manningcollection,for the Brisighellaaltarpiecebearsthe date 1618. The paintingrepresentsSaints Francisof Assisi and Louis of France-the latterthe eponymoussaint of LudovicoNaldi, to whose memory the altarpiecewas dedicatedby his sons-kneeling beneatha rectangularopeningdesignedto accommodatean earlier, now-lost devotionalimage of the Virgin and Child. Anotherpreparatorydrawing,in the Schloss FachsenfeldCollectionin the Staatsgalerieat Stuttgart,is closerto the altarpieceand was presumably executedsomewhatlaterthan the sheet in the Metropolitan Museum (fig. 7).

In style the altarpiecereflectsGuercino'sprofounddebt to works

by Ludovico Carracci (1555-1619). Ludovico's Virgin and Child with Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Joseph, and Donors, now in the

Pinacotecaat Cento,was readilyaccessibleto the young Guercinoin the local Capuchinchurchfor which it was painted(fig. 8). According to Malvasia,Guercinohimself acknowledgedthe lessons that 9

he learnedfrom this picture. The animatedcompositionand free brushworkthat distinguishthe paintingat Brisighellaowe much to Ludovico's1591 masterpiece.

In the late 161os, after a brief sojournin Venice,Guercinocame to the attentionof CardinalGiacomoSerra,papallegate to Ferrara.

Serra,who had previouslybeen instrumentalin obtainingfor Rubensthe commissionfor the high altarof the ChiesaNuova at Rome,was createdcardinalby PopePaulv in 1611 and appointed cardinallegate in 1615. In 1619-20 Guercinoexecutedat least five paintingsfor CardinalSerra,who in 1620 grantedhim the title Cavaliere.Forthis powerfulpatron,Guercinopaintedthe Samson Capturedby the Philistinesnow in the MetropolitanMuseum (fig. 9), as well as a Saint SebastianSuccoredby Irene(Bologna, 5. Guercino. Saints Francisof Assisi and Louis of FranceVeneratingan Image of the Virgin, 1618. Oil on canvas.

99'/4 X 597/8 in. (252 x 152 cm).

Brisighella (Faenza), San Francesco

Opposite: 6. Guercino. Saints Francisof Assisi and Louis of FranceVeneratingan Image of the Virgin. Pen and brown ink, on beige paper. 91/4 x 63/8 in. (23.5 x 16. cm).

Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1987 (1987.21)

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7. Guercino. Saints Francisof Assisi and Louis of FranceVeneratingan Image of the Virgin. Pen and brown ink, brown wash. 1o3/8 X 71/4 in. (26.5 x 18.5 cm).

Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie, Schloss Fachsenfeld Collection

8. Ludovico Carracci (1555-i619).

Virgin and Child with Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Joseph, and Donors, 1591.

Oil on canvas. 885/8 X 653/8 in.

(225 X 166 cm). Cento, Pinacoteca 12

PinacotecaNazionale),The Returnof the ProdigalSon (Vienna, KunsthistorischesMuseum),an ElijahFed by Ravens,and Jacob Blessingthe Sons of Joseph(London,Sir Denis Mahon). It is likely that two other pictures-The Raisingof Lazarus(Paris,Musee du Louvre;fig. 12) and The Denial of Saint Peter(Zurich,private collection)- were also paintedfor Serraduringthis period.

Guercino'sSamsonCapturedby the Philistineswas long considered a lost work. Mentionedby Malvasia,the paintingwas transportedby Serra'sheirs to Naples,where it disappearedbeforethe end of the eighteenthcentury. It was eventuallyrediscoveredin Beirut, having passedby descentto a memberof the Sursockfamily of Lebanon.

In 1977 the picturewas purchasedby Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman,and in 1984 they presentedit to The Metropolitan Museumof Art. Guercinohas chosen the most violent and dramaticmomentin the story, told in Judges 16:18-21. Samson is seen from behind, strug-

gling with a groupof Philistineswho attemptto bind his hands.

Delilah, the perfidiousPhilistinewoman who orderedan accomplice to shearthe seven locks of hair that had been the sourceof Samson's greatphysicalstrength,appearsin the left foreground,while a second femalefigureflees to the right. BehindDelilah a beardedman preparesto blind Samsonwith a spear.

The crowded,unstablecompositionis typical of worksexecuted

by Guercinobefore1621. Eachfigurecontributesto the overall effect of agitationand movement.The audaciouslycontortedfigure of Samsonoccupiesthe center;on either side the overlappingforms of the Philistineswho overpowerhim appearto burst out of the rectangularframe,while the dramaticlighting further emphasizesthe confusionof the scene.

The TeylersMuseumat Haarlempossessesa superbpen-and-wash compositionstudy for this painting(fig. io). The drawing,which was acquiredfrom PrinceLivio Odescalchiin the late eighteenthcentury, may have belongedto Queen Christinaof Sweden,who was a great admirerof Guercinoand a passionatecollectorof worksof art.

When Queen Christinawas in Bolognain 1655, she paid a visit to Guercino,and-although the artist was usually reluctantto part with his drawings-it is possiblethat he presentedthe Haarlem study to her on that occasion.

The friezelikecompositionof the drawingdiffers from the spatially complexarrangementof the figuresin the painting. The Philistinesare fewerin numberin the study than in the finished work, and their movementsare less agitated.Moreover,Samsonis seen in profile,not from behind, and Delilah holds the shearsand a lock of hair.

Aidan Weston-Lewishas recentlyidentifiedanotherstudy for Guercino'spaintingin the Frits Lugt Collectionat the Institut 13

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9. Guercino. Samson Capturedby the Philistines. Probably executed in 1619, this painting is one of at least five major works that were commissioned from Guercino by Cardinal Giacomo Serra, papal legate to Ferrara.Oil on canvas.

743/8 X 921/2 in. (189 x 235 cm). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1984 (1984.459.2)

15

4

lo. Guercino.SamsonCapturedby the

Neerlandais,Paris (fig. 11). Previouslythought to be the work of AnnibaleCarracci,it insteadappearsto be a drawingby Guercino for the figure of Samson. Unlike the sheet at Haarlem,this one was executedin red chalk,a techniquethat Guercinoused primarilyfor sketchesof individualfiguresor drapery.The few life studies of male nudesthat may be attributedto Guercinodate from the beginning of the artist'scareer.Presumablyinspiredby the exampleof the Carraccifamily, who seem to have been responsiblefor the revival of interestin life drawingthat took placeat the end of the sixteenth century, such worksby Guercinocannotoften be associatedwith specificpaintings. The sheet in the Institut Neerlandaismay have been madeas an exercisein life drawing,and the figure only later incorporated-with significantmodifications-into the painting commissionedby CardinalSerra.

Malvasianeglectsto mention The Raisingof Lazarusin the Musee du Louvre(fig. 12) as one of the picturesthat Guercinopaintedfor Serra.However,the paintingis almost exactly the same size and shapeas SamsonCapturedby the Philistines,and the two pictures are identicalin style. RobertoLonghi,who knew the Samsononly throughan old copy in the museumat Angouleme,was the first to suggest that the two workswere in fact paintedas pendants.There is no real iconographicconnectionbetween the two biblicalsubjects, but certainvisual correspondenceslend supportto his theory. In

Philistines. Pen and brown ink, brown wash. 93/8x i6/4 in. (23.7 X41.2 cm).

Haarlem, Teylers Museum

ii. Guercino. The Back of a Man Seated, Strippedto the Waist. This sheet may be a study for the back of the figure of Samson in the painting in the Metropolitan Museum (fig. 9). Redchalk, stumped, heightened with white, on beige paper. -131/4 X 1O5/8 in. (33 X 27 cm) Paris, Institut Ne'erlandais,Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection

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particular,the use of rope to bind the handsof the protagonists in both picturessignalsa conspicuousdeparturefrom Guercino's textual sources. Accordingto the Bible, Samsonwas fettered with chains,whereasLazarus'"handsandfeet [were]boundwith bandagesand his face wrappedwith a cloth"f(John1ii1:44).

The paintingrepresentsthe momentwhen Christ,having awakenedLazarusfrom death,says to the Jews,"Unbindhim, and let him go." Lazarus'sistersMartha(on the far left) and Mary (seatedat the feet of Christ)are both present.In the lower right cornera youth covershis nose and mouth in responseto the stench of decayspecificallymentionedin the biblicalaccount:"Lord,by this time therewill be an odor: for he has been deadfour days"f (John 1-1:39).

The MetropolitanMuseumowns a fine preparatorystudy for The Raising of Lazarus (fig. 13). This drawing,executedin pen 17

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and brownink with brownwash, has a good deal in commonwith the finishedpicture,althoughtherearesome notabledifferences.The figureof Christoccupiesa positionnearthe centerof the drawncomposition, but standsat the far rightin the painting.In the sketchLazarus has not yet completelyemergedfromthe tomb,andMaryandMartha appearnext to eachother.

In 1620 Guercinowas chargedwith the executionof a large altarpiece representingSaint William, duke of Aquitaine,receiving the monastichabit (fig. 14). Destined for a chapelbelongingto CristoforoLocatelliin the churchof San Gregorioat Bologna,the picturewas the most importantcommissionwith which the artist had thus far been entrusted.Guercino'sSaint Williamwas removed

Opposite: Guercino. The Raising of Lazarus.

This picture may have been painted in 12.

1619-20

for Cardinal Giacomo Serra,

perhaps as a pendant to the Samson Capturedby the Philistines in the Metropolitan Museum (fig. 9). Oil on canvas. 783/8 X 913/4 in. (199 x 233 cm).

Paris, Musee du Louvre

13. Guercino. The Raising of Lazarus.

Pen and brown ink, brown wash.

77/8 X 105/8 in. (20 X 27 cm). Purchase, Fosburgh Fund, Inc. Gift and Rogers Fund, 1968 (68.68)

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14. Guercino. Saint William Receiving the Monastic Habit, 1621. Oil on canvas. 1357/8 x 91 in. (345 x 231 cm).

Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale

from the churchby the Frenchin 1796 and exportedto Paris. There it was shown at the Louvrebeforebeing returnedto Italy after the defeatof Napoleonin 1815. The paintingis now in the Pinacoteca Nazionaleat Bologna.

Saint William (d. 812), a favoriteat the court of Charlemagne, was instrumentalin repulsingthe Saracenforcesthat threatenedthe Holy RomanEmpire.As dukeof Aquitaine,he foundedan abbey at Gellone,and in 806 he assumedthe monastichabit. Guercino chose to depictWilliam, still in armor,donningthe white habit worn by reformedBenedictines.Saint Benedictof Aniane is seated beforehim, while overheadan angel indicatesthe event to the Virgin, who is shown seatedon cloudswith the ChristChild in her lap. Two saints-probably Jamesand Joseph-appearat the upperleft-handcorner.

Many preparatorydrawingsfor Guercino'spaintingsurvive. This remarkablegroupof compositionand figure studies offers insight into the artist'sextensiveuse of drawingsto explorealternativesolutions to the representationof a given theme. One particularlyfine sheet of studies for Saint WilliamReceivingthe MonasticHabit, drawnon both sides, is in the MetropolitanMuseum (figs. 15, 16).

Typicallyfor Guercino,the Museum'sstudies differ considerably from the finishedpicture.On both recto and verso William is shown in armor,kneelingbeforeBenedict,who is seatedon the right, instead of on the left as in the painting.A similarlyfree pen sketchin the Musee du Louvrewas evidently drawnpriorto the studiesin the MetropolitanMuseum (fig. 17). The Louvredrawingindicatesthat Guercinohad previouslyexperimentedwith the idea of representing William standingin front of Benedictand alreadywearinga habit.

Guercinoappearsto have rejectedthis idea ratherearly on, perhaps becausehe felt that it left some ambiguityaboutthe identity of the protagonist,for military trappingsare a significantfeature of the iconographyof the youthful Saint William.

The sheet in the MetropolitanMuseumalso differs from the altarpiece in that SaintWilliam holds a cross, while the habit that is so prominentin the paintingis nowherevisible. Other preparatory drawingsfor Guercino'saltarpiecedemonstratethat the artist considered representingthe removalof William'sarmorjust beforehe put on monasticdress. A sheet of rapidpen studies in the collectionof Sir Denis Mahon,London,was drawnsomewhatlater in the genesis of the composition(fig. 18). There,as in the finishedpicture,William faces left. The same processof correctionand refinementseems to have continuedthroughoutGuercino'swork on the painting;Mahon arguesthat it was only after Guercinohad begun the canvasthat he modifiedthe saint'spose to show him with his left arm raised.

As archbishopof Bologna,AlessandroLudovisi,who becamePope Gregoryxv in 1621, had commissionedfrom Guercinoa Resurrection 21

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Prelate. Pen and

91/4 X71/2 in. (23.5x 19.1 cm).

RogersFund,1908 (08.227.29recto)

22

i6. Guercino. Youth Kneeling before a Prelate. Pen and brown ink. in. (23.5 X19.1 cm).

Rogers Fund, 1908 (08.227.29 verso)

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of Tabitha (Florence, Galleria Palatina), and he remained an important patron of Bolognese artists following his coronation. Just months after Gregory xv's election, both Guercino and his somewhat older contemporary Domenichino followed the new pope to Rome in expectation of receiving important commissions from the pontiff and members of his family.

At the time of his election Gregory xv was already sixty-seven years old. He promptly made his nephew Ludovico a cardinal and gave him great power at court. Within six months Ludovico acquired 24

i8. Guercino. Studies for Saint William Receiving the Monastic Habit. Pen and brown ink. 75/8x o0'/2 in. (19.3 X26.8 cm).

London, Sir Denis Mahon

:

a casino, or summerhouse, near the Porta Pinciana, and a short time later he entrusted Guercino with its decoration.

The Casino Ludovisi (or dell'Aurora)is a two-storied structure with a large room on each floor. Agostino Tassi, a specialist in decorative painting, frescoed the illusionistic architectural framework within which Guercino painted (a secco, in tempera on dry plaster, rather than in true fresco) the allegorical compositions that occupy the ceilings of both rooms. The painting on the vault of the upstairs room represents Fame with her trumpet and an olive branch soaring above personifications of Honor-crowned with laurel and grasping a staff-and Virtue-armed with a sword and holding a globe. In the barrel vault of the room on the ground floor Guercino painted Aurora, goddess of dawn, scattering flowers as she drives a two-horse chariot across the sky (fig. 19). The Horae, who personify the hours of the day, precede her, while Aurora's aged husband, Tithonus, appears behind her in the lower left-hand corner of the composition.

Allegorical figures of Day and Night occupy the lunettes at either end of the ceiling (see fig. 23).

Just seven years earlier, in 1614, the Bolognese artist Guido Reni had painted a similar subject on the ceiling of the casino of Cardinal Scipione Borghese's palace (now the Palazzo Rospigliosi) on the Quirinal Hill (fig. 20). The fresco by Reni represents Apollo seated in his chariot, surrounded by the Horae and preceded by Aurora.

Reni treated the subject as a quadro riportato-that is, as if it were an easel painting attached to the ceiling. He avoided the use of dramatic foreshortening and adopted an essentially planar, friezelike composition.

25

19. Guercino. Aurora, 1621. Tempera on plaster. Rome, Casino Ludovisi

20.

Guido Reni (1575-1642).

Aurora,

1614. Fresco. Rome, Palazzo Rospigliosi, Casino dell'Aurora 26

Guercino. Seated Old Man with Right Arm Upraised. The drawing is a study for the figure of Tithonus in Guercino'sAurora (fig. 19). Red 21.

Guercino'sAurorasignalsa bold departurefrom the classically composedceiling by GuidoReni. The scene is representedin steep perspective:the figuresare sharplyforeshortened,the undersidesof the horses are clearlyvisible, and the cypressesglimpsedthrough Tassi'sarchitecturalframeworktower abovethe spectator.Dramatic in conception,the Aurorawas the most importantand influentialof Guercino'searly works.

A considerablenumberof preparatorydrawingsfor this project survive (see figs. 21, 22, 24, 25). The MetropolitanMuseumpossesses a superbstudy for the figureof Tithonus,executedin red chalkon blue paper,that was identifiedby WalterVitzthumprior to its acquisitionby the Museumin 1970 (fig. 21). The drawing correspondsclosely to the figureas executedand belongs to a categoryof relativelyfinishedchalkstudies that Guercinomade throughouthis career.On the reverseof the sheet is a quicksketch for the figureof Day, personifiedby a winged youth seatedon clouds

chalk, on blue paper. 9'/8 x 121/2 in.

(23.3 x 31.7 cm). Rogers Fund, 1970

(1970.168 recto)

27

This Youth.Seated Nude of Museum's verso the is Tithonus the a for drawing ofstudy allegorical figure of Day in a lunette at Guercino's tone e ndof painted Aurora, At about on the ceiling of the ground-floor room Casino at aRome ceiline (fig. Ludovisi 23).

Guercino. and holding22 drawing is

onthe similarsketch armis

on 12/2Patrizi, blue chalk, paper.

9/8 pictuRed Fund, served(23.3 3.7 cm) Rogers (19701.I68verso)

the of the Ludovisi family.n plaembersnt familiar with Guercino's 22workfor mThe is inofthe to that howeverin the fiPalazzoCostaguti is taken fromight painting Thedrawing subjectimilar is in Tasso'sG position, and his right hand may origidifferusalemment Toarm quato in a Guercino painted timean knightchsimilar Rinaldostyle Chrisame abducts the Atceress, by

dragons.LikeGuercino'swork in the CasinoLudovisi,The Abduction of Rinaldo was executed in tempera instead of true fresco and is surrounded by illusionistic architecture painted by Agostino Tassi.

28

in.

X

197o

23. Guercino. Day, 1621. Tempera on

plaster. Rome, Casino Ludovisi

.

.

24. Guercino. Aurora in Her

Chariot. The drawing is a study for the figure that appears in the center of Guercino's Aurora (fig. 19).

Pen and brown ink. 71/2 x 9'/8 in. (19. -1X 23 .1 cm).

Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Thomas i Ashby Collection

j

29

25. Guercino. Seated Woman Reading a Book. This superb drawing is a study for the allegorical figure of Night in a lunette in the room on the ground floor of the Casino Ludovisi. Red chalk.

95/8 x 91/8

in.

(24.4X

23.2

cm). Windsor

Castle, Royal Library. (Reproducedby gracious permission of H.M. The Queen.)

7-

26. Guercino. The Abduction of Rinaldo, ca.

1621. Temperaon plaster.

Rome, Palazzo Costaguti

30

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27. Guercino. Youth in a Chariot with Attendant Young Woman. The sheet may be a study for The Abduction of Rinaldo (fig. 26). Pen and brown ink, brown wash.

61/2 x 73/4 in. (i6.6 x 19.8 cm). Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt,188o (80.3.294)

At least one drawing is directly related to this project. Although the composition is in the reverse direction from that of the painting, there can be no doubt that a pen sketch in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (Inv. 2737), is a study for the ceiling at the Palazzo

Costaguti. In the Cambridge drawing Armida looks over her shoulder at the sleeping Rinaldo. A pen drawing in the Metropolitan Museum is identical in style to the Fitzwilliam Museum sketch and is conceivably another study for The Abduction of Rinaldo (fig. 27).

The pose and physical type of the young woman in this drawing are close to those of Armida in the one at Cambridge, but the youth by her side is clearly awake. If the sheet in the Metropolitan Museum is a study for Guercino's work in the Palazzo Costaguti, it is further evidence of the experimental function of the artist's many preparatory drawings.

31

28. Guercino. The Burial and Reception into Heaven of Saint Petronilla, 1623.

Oil on canvas. 283'/2 x i661/2 in.

(720 x 423 cm). Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina

Despitethe audacityand self-assurednessof workssuch as the Aurora,Guercinowas soon to abandonthe intensely dramaticstyle of his youth in favorof one characterizedby greaterclarity,idealization, and repose. In late 1621 he was chargedwith the execution of a huge altarpiecefor Saint Peter's,The Burialand Receptioninto Heavenof Saint Petronilla,now in the PinacotecaCapitolina,Rome 32

(fig. 28). He must have regardedthis important commission as an

unprecedentedopportunityto demonstratehis talent as a painter.

Saint Petronillawas an EarlyChristianvirgin and martyr. At one time thoughtto havebeenthe daughterof SaintPeter,Petronilla died after refusingto marry a RomannoblemannamedFlaccus.

Guercino'spainting,which was removedfrom the altarduringthe eighteenthcenturyand replacedby a copy in mosaic,represents the body of Saint Petronillabeing loweredinto an open grave.

The saint reappearsin the top half of the composition,where she is shown kneelingbeforethe seatedfigureof Christ. Overhead a winged putto descendswith a crownof martyrdom.

This vast altarpiece,which is more than twenty feet high and twelve feet wide, differsmarkedlyin style from earlierworks

by Guercino.The emphasison movementthat characterizespictures such as SamsonCapturedby the Philistinesis here replaced by dignity and equilibrium.The solidly modeledfiguresare arranged close to the pictureplane so that their poses are instantlyintelligible. The physicaltypes are more idealizedthan in earlierworks

by Guercino;the chiaroscurois less emphatic,the colorsare lighter, and the overallcompositionis less confused.

Sir Denis Mahonhas suggestedthat Guercino'schangeof style was partly due to the criticalsuccessof worksby Domenichino.Like FrancescoAlbani and GuidoReni, Domenichinostudiedwith the FlemishexpatriateDenys Calvaertbeforejoining the Accademiadegli Incamminati,which was then underthe directionof Agostino and LudovicoCarracci.In 1602 he journeyedto Rome,where he worked with AnnibaleCarracci.GiovanniBattistaAgucchi,who eventually becamesecretaryof state to PopeGregoryxv, was a patronand close friendof Domenichino,as well as an ardentchampionof the artist'srigorouslyclassicalstyle. GivenAgucchi'sadmiration for worksby Domenichinoand his influentialposition at court, Agucchi'sopinionsin mattersof taste may have contributedto Guercino'sstylistic volte-face.

On July 8, 1623, Gregoryxv suffereda strokeand died. A short time later Guercinoreturnedto Cento. Therehe maintaineda busy workshopfor nearly two decades,producingpicturesin the comparatively soberstyle heraldedby The Burialand Receptioninto Heaven of Saint Petronilla.

Analogieswith workssuch as the frescoesGuercinopaintedin 1626-27 in the cathedralat Piacenzasuggest that an unusual, highly finisheddrawingof the Holy Familyin the PierpontMorgan Librarymay have been executedsoon after Guercino'sreturnto Cento (fig. 29). Drawn in black, red, blue, brown, and ocher chalk,

this remarkablesheet bearsthe initials of the greateighteenthcenturyVenetiancollectorAnton MariaZanetti; later it belonged to anotherfamousamateur,BaronDominiqueVivantDenon. The 33

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Black, red, blue, brown, and ocher chalk. in. (35.8 X 26.8 cm).

141/4 X 10'/2 New York, The PierpontMorgan Library

30. Guercino. The Adoration of the Magi. Although not directly related to any known painting by the artist, this composition study may be associated with works executed by Guercino in the i620os. Pen and brown ink, brown wash.

use of coloredchalkis exceptionalin Guercino'soeuvre and suggests that the artist intendedthe sheet to be framedand displayedas a small painting.

From1629 on, all financialtransactionsinvolving commissionsexecutedby Guercinoand his youngerbrotherPaoloAntonio Barbieri (1603-1649) were systematicallyrecordedin an accountbook now at Bologna. preservedin the BibliotecaComunaledell'Archiginnasio This accountbook, the Librodei conti,was begun by PaoloAntonio Barbieriand continuedby Guercinohimself after 1649. The survival of the Librodei contihas ensuredthat Guercino'scareeris better documentedthan that of almost any other seventeenth-century Italianartist.

Guercino'spricesremainedfairly constantthroughouthis career; he chargedclientsone hundredducatsfor each figure, fifty or sixty for each half-figure,and betweentwenty-fiveand thirty for a head.

in. (27.1X34.6 cm).

Rogers Fund, 1908 (08.227.30)

105/8X135/8

35

31. Guercino. The Cimmerian Sibyl, 1638. Oil on canvas. 5'1/8 x 39 in.

(130 x 99 cm). Reggio Emilia, Credito

Emiliano

According to his account book, Guercino received a final payment of fifty-five ducats for a painting of the Cimmerian Sibyl on January 2, 1639. Malvasia states that in the same year Guercino executed an unspecified Sibyl for Ludovico Ratta of Bologna. It seems likely both sources refer to the same picture, the half-length Cimmerian Sibyl now the property of the Credito Emiliano in Reggio Emilia (fig. 31).

A fine preparatory study for this painting is in the Metropolitan Museum (fig. 32). Executed in pen and brown ink, the drawing represents a seated woman holding a scroll. In the painting the scroll bears an inscription in Latin that clarifies her identity. The sheet is characteristic of Guercino's drawings from this period: rapid, calligraphic pen strokes combined with dots, dashes, and parallel hatching lines describe the forms.

36

K

-

ft.

32. Guercino. The Cimmerian Sibyl.

Pen and brown ink. 73/4 x 57/8 in.

(19.7 x 15 cm). Rogers Fund, 1912 (12.56.1

1)

37

On August 18, 1642, Guido Reni died in Bolognaat the age of sixty-seven. About a month later Guercinoleft Centoand movedto Bolognawith his large workshopand many assistants.Therehe took Reni'splaceas Bologna'sleadingpainter.

The classicizingtendenciesapparentin worksexecutedby Guercino after his return from Romein 1623 are even more pronouncedin paintingsdatableto his Bologneseperiod. Guercino'sidealizedfigures assumecomparativelystatic poses, and the agitationand excitement of early narrativecompositionslike the Samsonhe paintedfor CardinalSerragive way to a more introspectivespirituality.The meditativecalm of late worksby Guercinois enlivenedby a wide rangeof colors, and the artist'scharacteristicpalette of rich shades of blue, brown,and violet expandsto includea gamutof pastelhues.

Moreover,Guercinoabandonedthe thick, creamyimpastotypical of pictureshe executedin his youth in favorof a thinly painted surfacesimilarto that of late worksby Reni.

The MetropolitanMuseumis fortunateto possess a superblate work by Guercino,the large altarpiecethat he executedin Bologna for Ferrantein Gonzaga,duke of Guastalla,in 1650-51 (fig. 33). The paintingrepresentsSaintAloysius Gonzaga,to whom FerranteIII was distantlyrelated,standingbeforean altarand gazing at a crucifix held by an angel. Aloysius (in Italian,Aluigi) Gonzagawas born in 1568, the eldest son of Ferrante i, marquis of Castiglione delle Stiviere and a great-grandsonof LudovicoII Gonzaga,who had been

ruler of the powerfulMarquisate(laterDuchy) of Mantuain northern Italy. As a child, Aloysius was extremelypious, and at the age of ten he madea vow of perpetualchastity; two years later,in 1580, he receivedhis First Communionfrom CarloBorromeo,archbishop of Milan. In November1585, when he was just seventeenyears old, he renouncedthe Marquisateof Castiglionein favorof his brother Ridolfoand becamea novice at the Jesuithouse of Sant'Andrea in Rome.

Five years later Aloysius was miraculouslygiven to understand that he would live for only a short time, and, on June20, 1591, he died after contractingthe plaguewhile helpingthe sick duringthe pestilencethat ravagedRomein that year. His cult soon spread throughoutItaly, and he was beatifiedby PopePaulv in 1605 and canonizedby PopeBenedictxiii in 1726. He is the patronsaint of Catholicyouth.

Guercino'sLibrodei contirecordsthree paymentstotaling 400 ducatsfor the Saint Aloysius. The first installmentwas paidby QuarantaSampieri,acting as agent for Ferrantein, on March26, 1650, while the other two payments are dated April 24 and April 27

of the following year. Upon its completion,the paintingwas placed abovean altardedicatedto Aloysius Gonzagain the right transeptof the now-destroyedTheatinechurchof SantaMariadel Castelloat 38

33. Guercino. Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, 1650-51. Oil on canvas. 140 x 1047/8 in.

(355.6 x 266.3 cm). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1973 (1973.311.3)

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Guastalla.Shortly after the Napoleonicsuppressionof the Theatine order,Guercino'sSaint Aloysius was appropriated

by Mederic Louis Elie Moreaude Saint-Mery,administratorgeneralof Parma, Piacenza,and Guastalla.When Moreaufell from favorwith Emperor Napoleonin i8o6, the picturewas acquiredfirst by his successor, AndacheJunot,duke of Abrantes,and subsequentlyby the art dealer SamuelWoodburn,who bought it at Christie'sin Londonin 18i8.

Not long afterwardthe paintingonce againturned up in Italy, where it was purchasedin 1821 by JohnGrantof Kilgrastonin Perthshire, Scotland.The pictureremainedwith JohnGrant'sfamily until 1957, when it was acquiredby Mr. and Mrs. CharlesWrightsman,who presentedit to the MetropolitanMuseumin 1973.

The white surplicethat Aloysius wears over the high-collared blackhabit of the Society of Jesusrefersto his ordinationas doorkeeper,lector, exorcist,and acolyte-the four minor ordersthat he receivedin the early months of 1588. At his feet are a branchof white lilies, emblematicof chastity, and a gold coronetsymbolizing the Marquisateof Castiglione,which Aloysius renouncedin favorof his youngerbrother.A winged putto descendsto crownthe young man with a wreathof orangeblossoms. In front of the altaran angel directsAloysius' attentionto a crucifix,while a heavenlychoir sings overhead.The monumentalarchitecturalsetting must be imaginary, but the town seen in the distancepresumablyrepresentsCastiglione delle Stiviere,Aloysius'birthplace.

Curiously,no preparatorydrawingsfor this altarpiecehave been identified.The absenceof preliminarysketchesfor the Museum's paintingis particularlysurprisinggiven the importanceof the commission. In a celebratedletter of February15, I65o, Guercino declinedto supply drawingsto a patron,Don Antonio Ruffo of Messina,on the groundsthat, for medicalreasons,he was temporarilyobligedto work out his compositionsdirectly on canvas.

However,Guercino'sunwillingnessto give up his drawingsis fairly well documented,and it seems likely that he was simply being evasive.

Indeed,the MetropolitanMuseumowns a pen-and-washstudy of Endymionthat may be relatedto a paintingexecutedby Guercinoat aboutthe same time and, coincidentally,for the same Don Antonio Ruffo who had recentlywritten to him to requestdrawings(fig. 34).

Accordingto Malvasiaand to Guercino'saccountbook, the artist painteda total of five picturesof Endymion.All but one of these paintingsrepresenteda half-lengthfigure. However,on March2, 1650, Guercinoreceived125 scudifrom Don Ruffo'sagent, Pietro Antonio Davia, for a full-length paintingof this subject.Guercino's paintinghas been lost, and no contemporarycopiesare known,but it is plausiblethat the drawingof Endymionsleepingnow in the Museumwas executedin connectionwith Ruffo'spicture.

40

34. Guercino. Endymion Sleeping.

Pen and brown ink, brown wash.

8/4 x 93/4 in. (21.1 x 24.8 cm).

Rogers Fund, 1968 (68.171)

Mahonhas convincinglyassociatedanotherpen drawingin the MetropolitanMuseumwith an altarpieceexecutedby Guercinoin 1652 and now in the PalazzoRosso at Genoa(figs. 35, 36). This picturewas paintedfor the duomoat Centobut apparentlyremainedin Guercino'shouse in Bolognauntil it was sold by his heirs sometimebefore 1717. In the paintingthe Virgin and Child are enthronedupon a high pedestal.The infant Saint Johnthe Baptist appearsat the feet of the Virgin, while SaintJohnthe Evangelist standsholdinga book at the lower left and Saint Bartholomewkneels at the lower right.

The Museum'svery free and summarydrawingcontainstwo sketchesof a kneelingmale figureand is probablya study for the Apostle Saint Bartholomew.Drawnon the reverseof a letter, both 41

sketchesdiffer from the painting,in which the figure is shown in profileratherthan turned slightly towardor slightly away from the spectator.Moreover,in the altarpieceSaint Bartholomewis representedholding a book in his left hand and the knife with which he was flayedin his right.

A study for this paintingin the Schloss FachsenfeldCollection in the Staatsgalerieat Stuttgart(fig. 37) correspondsclosely to the draperyaroundthe waist of the Evangelistin the altarpiece.The Schloss Fachsenfelddrawingis one of a group of unusuallypainstaking draperystudies that Guercinoexecutedbeginningin the late I62os. Most of this group of highly finishedred-chalkdrawings 42

35. Guercino. Two Studies of a Kneeling Male Figure. This drawing, executed on the reverse of a letter, is a study for the figure of Saint Bartholomew in Guercino's altarpiece representing the Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, and Bartholomew, now in the Palazzo Rosso at Genoa (fig. 36). Pen and brown ink.

7 x 65/8 in. (x7.7 x 16.9 cm).

Rogers Fund, 1963 (63.37)

36. Guercino. The Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, and Bartholomew,1652.

Oil on canvas. 1337/8 x 87 in. (340

37. Guercino. Study of Drapery. Red chalk. 11 x 75/8 in. (28 x 19.5 cm).

Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie, Schloss Fachsenfeld Collection

X 221 cm). Genoa, Palazzo Rosso, Gallerie Comunali

remainedwith Guercino'sdescendantsuntil the secondhalf of the eighteenthcentury,when they were acquiredby the Bologneseartist FrancescoGiusti. In 1899 BaronFranzvon Koenig-Fachsenfeld purchaseda large part of Giusti'scollection,includingalmost all of Guercino'sknowndrawingsof this type.

Mahonarguesthat Guercinofirst made such drawingsin connection with the frescoeshe executedin the mid-162osin the dome of the cathedralat Piacenza.Unlike the Auroraand Triumphof Famein the CasinoLudovisi,Guercino'sworkat Piacenzawas paintedin true fresco-that is, directlyon wet plaster.Since fresh plasterabsorbs watercolor,frescoesare extremelydurable.However,frescopainters 43

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S. Guercino. Saint Cecilia Playing the 3E 'rgan.A virgin and martyr, Saint Cecilia is the patronsaintof musicand musicians. Red chalk. 11i3/8 x 7/2 in.

i

(2:9 X I9. i cm). Rogers Fund, 1971

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must work quicklyand cannoteasily make correctionsor adjustments as they go along. Guercinoevidentlyrespondedto this challenge by executingmeticulousstudies for detailsthat on canvashe would haveworkedout at the last minute. The Schloss Fachsenfeld drawingsuggeststhat Guercinocontinuedto executethis type of draperystudy even after he had given up paintinglarge-scale frescoeslike those at Piacenza.

45

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Guercino'snumerousdrawingsof subjectsinspiredby everyday life reveala keen interestin human behavior.A pen sketchof a boy chasinga butterfly,once in the collectionof WalterC. Bakerand now in the MetropolitanMuseum, cannotbe associatedwith any of Guercino'sknown paintings(fig. 39), but it is typical of the charminggenre studies that he executedthroughouthis career.The poor conditionof the sheet illustratesa problemthat affects many of Guercino'spen-and-washstudies; the artist frequentlyused iron-gall ink, a mediummade from naturallyoccurringgallnutsand iron sulfate. Iron-gallink is highly acidicand may eventuallycausethe fibersof the paperto disintegrate.

Guercinodrewmany portraits,most of which containsome elementof caricature.The Museum'sHalf-Figureof a MoroseMan is an outstandingexample(fig. 41). Guercinohas in no way idealized the man'sfeaturesand seems even to have taken pains to emphasize his homelinessand moody expression.The drawingunderlinesthe 46

40. Guercino. Bust of a Man Facing Right. This sketch, similar in feeling to the Museum's Half-Figure of a Morose Man (fig. 41), is stylistically related to other studies of heads datable to the 163os. Pen and brown ink, brown wash.

53/8x 6 in. (13.7 x 15.2 cm). Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1938 (38.179.4)

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1I 41. Guercino. Half-Figure of a Morose Man. Pen and brown ink.

8'/4x 33/4 in. (20.8 x 9.4 cm).

Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1989

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43. Guercino. Fireworksin a Piazza.

Pen and brown ink, brown wash.

7'/4 x 103/8

in. (18.5 x 26.4 cm).

Fund, Rogers 1912 (12.56.12)

Opposite: 42. Guercino. A Diablerie. Pen and brown ink. 10o/8 x 77/8 in.

(26.5 x 19.9 cm). Harry G. Sperling

Fund, 1990 (1990.214)

fluid boundarybetween straightforwardportraitdrawings,which are more or less faithful to visual fact, and caricatures,distinguishedby varying degreesof intentionalexaggeration.

The majorityof Guercino'scaricaturesare drawnin a spikier, more schematicstyle than that of the MoroseMan and are similar in handlingto a pen-and-inkDiablerierecentlyacquiredby the MetropolitanMuseum (fig. 42). This unusualand enigmaticsheet representsa particularlyfancifulaspectof Guercino'sartistic personality.Diableriesand the occultwere evidentlymuch appreciated by the artist'scontemporaries.SalvatorRosa (1615-1673), for example,executeda numberof paintingsof witches' Sabbaths, and similarthemes were treatedby other Italianpaintersof the seventeenthcentury.

In the upperleft-handcornerof the Museum'sdrawinga crouching figure cries out in pain as flamesbelow lick his tail. Near him sits a creaturewith a humanbody and the head of a dog; another caninemonsteris held fast in the crookof its arm. On a lower step a seatedfigureturns its backto the infernalspectacle,while another 49

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44. Imitator of Guercino. Landscape with Figures and a Farmhouse.This sheet belongs to a group of pen-and-ink landscape studies that have been attributed to an eighteenth-century forger of Guercino's drawings. Pen and brown ink. i3I/4 X 19 in. (33.7 x 48.4 cm).

Rogers Fund, 1937 (37.165.99)

45. Guercino. Saint Anthony of Padua.

Etching. 53/4x

41/4 in. (14.7x 10.9 cm).

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1926 (26.70.3

50

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one expiresfrom the heat, the fumes, and despair.Beneaththem two men and a dragonare immersedin flames. Inscriptionson the old mount indicatethat the sheet has a long Englishprovenance;during the eighteenthand early nineteenthcenturiesit belongedto two greatartist-collectors,Arthur Pondand JonathanRichardson,Sr., as well as to the distinguishedconnoisseurJohnBarnard,and to UvedalePrice,whose notablecollectionof drawingswas dispersedat auctionin 1854.

LikeAnnibaleCarracciand Domenichino,Guercinoexecutednumerouslandscapedrawings,mostly in pen and ink with little or no wash. The only landscapedrawingby Guercinoin the Metropolitan Museum (fig. 43) is somewhatunusualin that, insteadof a pastoral scene, it representsa fireworksdisplayin a town squarethat might have been inspiredby the main piazzain Cento. The drawingis an early work, almost certainlyexecutedpriorto Guercino'sdeparture for Rome,and might date from the same time as the CasaPannini frescoesand the Tobiasand the Angel in the Manningcollection.

Guercino'slandscapedrawingswere widely imitated,and a numberof them were engravedduringthe seventeenthand eighteenthcenturies.

Motifs from these printswere later used by forgersto producedrawings that couldbe sold as originalworksby Guercino,with the result that fake landscapesattributedto him are abundantin publicand privatecollections.A sheet in the Museumby an early forgerof Guercinolandscapes(fig. 44) providesan interestingcomparison with authenticdrawingssuch as the fireworksstudy.

Given the remarkablefluencywith which Guercinodrew,it is curiousthat he failed to pursuethe closely allied art of printmaking.

Many of his paintingswere engravedby others,but Guercinohimself made only two prints: a Saint Anthony of Padua and an Infant

SaintJohnthe Baptist.Both appearto have been executedlate in the artist'scareer,perhapsabout 1650.

In one of these etchings Saint Anthony holds an open book and a branchof lilies, symbolizinghis purity (fig. 45). The inscriptionalla Pace / Io: Iocomo Rossi form. Romae indicates that the impression in

the MetropolitanMuseumwas pulledafter the originalplate-now in the CalcografiaNazionaleat Rome-was acquiredby the late seventeenth-centuryRomandealerand printmakerGiovanniJacopo Rossi. Guercino'slackof experienceas an etcheris evidentin his SaintAnthony; the closely spacedlines that shadethe side of the headwere overbittenwhen the platewas immersedin acid, and the artist was obligedto reworkthis passagewith a burin in order to achievethe correctdistributionof light and dark.

The vogue for worksby Guercinoensuredthat the artist continued to receivenumerouscommissionsuntil his deathin 1666. A late pen-and-washdrawingof the Virgin Immaculatestandingon a crescent moon was purchasedby the Museumin 1968 (fig. 46). This 51

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Guercino.

The Virgin Immaculate.

he sheet is a study for Guercino's

Immaculate Conception now in the Pinacoteca Civica at Ancona (fig. 47). and brown ink, brown wash.

0 in. (26 -12.3 cm). lo/4X47/8 Fund, 1968 (68.172.2)

47. Guercino. The Immaculate Conception,1656. Oil on canvas. 885/8 x 701/8 in.

(225 X 178 cm). Ancona, Pinacoteca Civica

sheet is a study for an altarpiece Guercino painted in 1656 for Carlo Antonio Camerati (fig. 47). The painting, now in the Pinacoteca Civica at Ancona, represents the Virgin looking downward, her hands crossed instead of joined in prayer. Winged putti flank the central figure of the Virgin, while God the Father appears above her with both arms outstretched. The drawing is a splendid example 53

of Guercino'srefineduse of wash; with remarkableeconomy,he achievedgreaterluminosityin the preparatorystudy than in the altarpieceitself.

Guercinodied on December22, i666, and was buriedin the churchof San Salvatoreat Bologna.Although he left behind a large and competentworkshop,Guercinohad no pupilstalentedenough to emergeas independentartists. Instead,his Bolognesefollowers turnedout picturesof modestquality whose principaldistinctionis a vague stylistic connectionwith worksby the master.

Guercinonevermarried,and his estate, which must have included abouttwo thousanddrawings,passedto his nephewsBenedettoand 54

48. Guercino. Half-Figure of a Nude Man Facing Right. The decorative border was probably added during the eighteenth century by a former owner, FrancescoForni of Bologna. Pen and brown ink, brown wash. 63/8 x 71/4 in.

(16.2 Xi8.3 cm). Rogers Fund, 1970 (1970.40)

CesareGennari.The dispersalof this vast body of worktook place gradually.An uncertainnumberof drawingswere takenout of Italy

by BenedettoGennari,who was in Parisfrom 1672 to 1674 and who residedin Londonfrom 1674 until the EnglishRevolutionin 1688.

The splendidgroupof Guercinodrawingsin the collectionof the dukeof Devonshireat Chatsworthwas probablyacquiredat this time. However,the majorityof Guercino'sdrawingsremainedwith the Gennarifamily until the middleof the eighteenthcentury.

In 1763 severalhundreddrawingsby Guercinoand hundreds more by his pupilsand followerswere purchasedfrom Cesare Gennari'snephewand heir, Carlo,by RichardDalton, librarianto King GeorgeIII; this enormousgroupof drawingsis now in the RoyalLibraryat WindsorCastle.A few years later CarloGennari sold anotherselectionof drawingsby Guercinoto FrancescoForni of Bologna.This group,which must have been nearly as large as the one at Windsor,was acquireda short time afterwardby the HonorableEdwardBouverie.

Drawingswith this provenancemay be identifiedeitherby characteristicinscriptionsmadeup of variousletters and numbersor by mountswith distinctivebordersthat were presumablyaddedby FrancescoForni. These bordersconsist of combinationsof ruled lines that form decorativegeometricpatterns.Two drawingsby Guercino in the MetropolitanMuseumpreservebordersof this type. One is a pen sketchof a male nude facing right (fig. 48). Its considerably fadedold mount is inscribed12 S Fo. in the same hand as other sheets with a similarGennariprovenance.Anotherdrawingwith a decoratedborder,the Museum'srecentlyacquiredHalf-Figureof a MoroseMan (fig. 41), was once the propertyof the first earl of Gainsborough,who in 1820 acquiredthe bulk of EdwardBouverie's huge collectionof drawingsby Guercino.The elaborateruled border of this drawingconstitutesa particularlystylish exampleof FrancescoForni'shandiwork.

A prolificpainterand indefatigabledraughtsman,Guercinoplayed an importantpart in the developmentof seventeenth-centuryItalian art. While the picturesGuercinopaintedlate in life are distinguished by their classicismand coloristicrefinement,his early worksare infusedwith a freshnessand vigor that were greatly admiredby his contemporaries.Indeed,it is the Auroraof 1621- and not the worksGuercinoexecutedin Centoand Bolognaafter having become an establishedand successfulartist-that heraldsthe exuberantHigh Baroquestyle of later seventeenth-centuryRomanpainting.

55

SelectedBibliography Bagni, Prisco. Guercino a Cento. Le decorazionidi Casa Pannini. Bologna, 1984. . Il Guercino e il suo falsario. I disegni di paesaggio. Bologna, 1985.

Bean, Jacob. 17th Century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1979.

Fahy, Everett, and Sir Francis Watson. The Wrightsman Collection. Vol. v, Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture. New York, 1973.

Longhi, Roberto. "The Climax of Caravaggio'sInfluenceon Guercino."Art in America 14 (1926), pp. 138-48.

Mahon, Denis. Studies in Seicento Art and Theory. London, 1947. . II Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, 1591-1666). Catalogo critico dei dipinti. Exh. cat., Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio. Bologna, 1968. . Il Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, 1591-1666). Catalogo critico dei disegni. Exh. cat., Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio. Bologna, 1969.

Mahon, Denis, and Nicholas Turner. The Drawings of Guercino in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle. Cambridge, 1989.

Malvasia, Carlo Cesare. Felsina pittrice: Vite de' pittori bolognesi. 2 vols. (2nd ed., Bologna, 1841).

Salerno, Luigi, with the collaborationof Denis Mahon. I dipinti del Guercino.Rome, 1988.

Biblical referencesare to the New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha (Revised StandardVersion).

PhotographCredits Color photography of Metropolitan Museum drawings and figure 4 by Malcolm Varon. Color photography of figures 9, 33, and inside front cover by The Metropolitan Museum of Art Photograph Studio. Other photography supplied by the institutions cited in the captions, except as noted: figures 8, 19, 20, 23, 26, 29, 36, by Alinari-Art Resource; figures 12, 17, by Documentation Photographiquede la Reunion des Musees Nationaux; figure 14 by Scala-Art Resource.

49. Guercino. Standing Youth Holding a Bowl. The drawing may represent Ganymede, cupbearerto the gods of Olympus. Nicholas Turner has pointed out that the paste stains visible at the margins of this sheet are typical of drawings that have been removed from mounts such as those in figures 41 and 48. Red chalk. 103/8 x 71/2 in.

(26.5 x 18.9 cm). Rogers Fund, 1963 (63.75.2)

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