Sunday, June 6, 2021

Guercino in Bologna - 1651 (II)

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
Libyan Sibyl
1651
oil on canvas
Royal Collection, Great Britain

Francesco Bartolozzi after Guercino
Libyan Sibyl
ca. 1780
etching in black and red ink
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Domenico Cunego after Guercino
Libyan Sibyl
ca. 1797
engraving
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart

"On the 4 December 1651, a certain Ippolito Cattani (or Catanio) paid 120 ducats (equal to 150 scudi) for two half figures, a Libyan Sibyl [above] and a Samian Sibyl [the finished version, below], both of which were recorded by Malvasia for the year 1651.  Soon after the ascent to the British throne of King George III (reg. 1760-1801), his Royal Librarian Richard Dalton bought the Libyan Sibyl for him, and it has remained in the Royal Collection ever since."    

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
Samian Sibyl
1651
oil on canvas (trial version)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
Samian Sibyl
1651
oil on canvas (finished version)
Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna

Antonio Perfetti after Guercino
Samian Sibyl
1833
engraving
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
St John the Baptist
ca. 1651
oil on canvas
Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome

Franz von Predl after Guercino
St John the Baptist
1798
etching
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart

Pietro Ghigi after Guercino
St John the Baptist
ca. 1800
engraving
Wellcome Collection, London

"Both Malvasia and the account book mention several half-length and head-and-shoulder paintings of St John the Baptist from the artist's mature period, but to pin down exact commissions is virtually impossible."

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
Lot and his Daughters
(after) 1651
oil on canvas
Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio

"[This version of Lot and his Daughters] is cited by Malvasia under the year 1651, as for Girolamo Paresi, but because of the rigid pecking order that Guercino imposed on his clients according to their social hierarchy, Panesi had to wait months for its completion.  Two previous canvases of the subject, both intended at the outset for Paresi, had been commandeered by more high-ranking patrons: the first [1650], by the Commendatore Manzini, who wanted it as a diplomatic gift for the Duke of Modena, and the second [1651] by the Duke of Mantua.  Both these full-length pictures were of different compositions, which explains Malvasia's emphasis on yet another fresh invention for this, Guercino's third attempt at fulfilling Panesi's commission."

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
Lot and his Daughters
ca. 1651
drawing (compositional study)
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Stefano Tofanelli after Guercino
Lot and his Daughters
ca. 1787
engraving
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart

workshop copyist after Guercino
Lot and his Daughters
(after) 1651
oil on canvas
Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
Virgin and Child with Four Saints
(Patrons of Modena)

ca. 1651
oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre

"The patron saints of Modena – St Giminiano, St George, St John the Baptist and St Peter Martyr – are represented in the lower half of the altarpiece, carried out at the request of Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena.  In 1649, he made known his wishes to remove Correggio's Madonna of St George from its original location in S. Pietro Martire, Modena, and hang it in the ducal picture gallery.  He offered to replace Correggio's altarpiece in the church with one by Guercino, representing the same saints, commonly known since the early 19th century as the 'Patron Saints of Modena'.  . . .  In 1783, [Guercino's] painting was transferred to the ducal gallery, and in 1796 it was requisitioned by the French and has stayed at the Louvre ever since." 

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
Virgin and Child with Four Saints
(Patrons of Modena)
ca. 1651
drawing (compositional study)
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

 
 – quoted texts from The Paintings of Guercino: a revised and expanded catalogue raisonné by Nicholas Turner (Rome: Ugo Bozzi Editore, 2017)