Le Guerchin

Albertus Clowet of Rome
Portrait of Guercino
ca. 1646-79
engraving
Rijksmuseum

Guercino
St Sebastian succored by two angels
1617
oil on copper
Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire

"Bolognese religious painting and portraiture may still reach modern audiences in unexpected ways, in spite of their secure 'academic' status in the history of art and regardless of the occasional thematic remoteness of their stories. Diderot, who uncompromisingly supported painters of contemporary manners of his age, admired the ability of Baroque painting to set feelings in motion, to transcend the predictability of its religious narratives, and to bridge their overriding passions with the concerns of the contemporary world. In Diderot's words, "No one misidentifies Christ, or Saint Peter, or the Virgin, or most of the apostles; and do you think that when one of the faithful recognizes similar heads in the street he doesn't experience a feeling of respect? Wouldn't it be surprising if such figures ever presented themselves to view without awakening a series of sweet, voluptuous, agreeable ideas that set the feelings and passions in motion?"

– from Captured Emotions : Baroque Painting in Bologna, 1575-1725, edited by Andreas Henning and Scott Schaefer (Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2008)

The oils below date to the decade after the return from the Roman adventures of 1621-23. Guercino, entering his thirties, would remain within the orbit of Bologna in the region of his birth for the rest of his long life. Scholars and critics of all periods are united in remarking that – after Rome – the artist's manner of painting gradually became both brighter in tone and simpler in composition.

Guercino
Penitent Magdalene
ca. 1624-25
oil on canvas
Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin

Guercino
Semiramis receiving news of the revolt of Babylon
1624
canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Guercino
Salome visiting John the Baptist in Prison
ca. 1624-26
canvas
private collection

Guercino
Samson bringing honey to his parents
ca. 1625-26
oil on canvas
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk,Virginia

Guercino
Portrait of Cardinal Francesco Cennini
1625
oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Guercino
St Gregory the Great with St Ignatius & St Francis Xavier
ca. 1626
oil on canvas
National Gallery, London

Guercino
Portait of Francesco Righetti
ca. 1626-28
canvas
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Guercino
Return of the Prodigal Son
1627-28
oil on canvas
Galleria Borghese, Rome

Guercino
Sophonisba with poison
1630
oil on canvas
Fondazione Sorgente Group

Guercino
Death of Dido
1631
oil on canvas
Galleria Spada, Rome

Guercino
Venus, Mars and Cupid
1633
canvas
Galleria Estense, Modena

"The new image of the artist which evolved in the sixteenth century found its clearest expression in the opinion that 'wonderful and divine thoughts' come into being only when ecstasy complements the operation of the intellect. This is at the same time a reminder which leaves no doubt that artistic creation rests upon inner vision, upon inspiration. Thus, inevitably, there emerged an image of the artist who creates his work driven by an irrepressible urge, in a 'mixture of fury and madness' akin to intoxication. This idea has its roots, as we have attempted to indicate, in Plato's theory of art; but it was not until the Renaissance that painters and sculptors were credited with possessing genuine ecstasy. Thus transformed into 'the stylus of god,' the artist himself was honored as a divine being. The 'religion' among whose saints he is counted is the modern-day worship of genius." 

– from Legend, Myth, and Magic in the Image of the Artist by Ernst Kris and Otto Kurz (Yale University Press, 1979)

Guercino
Aldrovani dog
ca. 1625
oil on canvas
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena