 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) David with the Head of Goliath ca. 1618 detached fresco Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City |
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) David with the Head of Goliath ca. 1618 drawing (compositional study) Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) David with the Head of Goliath ca. 1618 drawing (compositional study) Royal Library, Windsor |
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) David beheading Goliath ca. 1618 drawing (compositional study) Musée du Louvre |
"An unusual support constituted by three different strata suggests that the David with the Head of Goliath may originally have been painted on a wall, as part of the decoration of a room. These layers seem more characteristic of local housebuilding than of a plaster panel especially fabricated in an artist's studio for an experiment in fresco painting. Topmost are at least two layers of plaster, onto which the fresco was painted; in the middle, held together with rope, is a mat of reeds placed parallel to each other, whose irregular surface provided grip for the first layer of plaster, which was clumsily applied; and at the bottom are two wide planks of wood, giving solidity to the less stable strata of reed and plaster above. In the wetlands of many parts of Europe, a standard building practice over centuries was to attach reeds, instead of wood laths, horizontally to the wooden uprights of a wall ('studwork' in modern parlance); this gave purchase to the wet plaster as it was skimmed smooth. Since reeds and plaster are the materials for the support of the David with the Head of Goliath, it is worth considering if the fresco had a display site in a room decoration, very likely enclosed by its own painted frame; this might also explain why the first layer of plaster has been trowelled so crudely onto the reeds. Had the painting originated as an experiment in portable fresco, a more straightforward and less rustic support could surely have been contrived."
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Hercules Killing the Hydra (destroyed fresco) 1618 drawing (compositional study) private collection |
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Hercules Killing the Hydra (destroyed fresco) 1618 drawing (compositional study) National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Hercules Killing the Hydra (destroyed fresco) 1618 drawing (compositional study) private collection |
"In 1618 Guercino took his newly evolved monumental style of buon fresco painting a step further, this time in public locations in Bologna, completing his decorations of Hercules Killing the Hydra (destroyed), formerly on the façade of the Palazzo Tanari, and St. Roch Thrown into Prison, in the Oratorio di S. Rocco. Unlike the townsfolk of Cento, the citizens of Bologna were experienced at rating the work of contemporary painters, so Guercino's début there in the still unfamiliar technique of buon fresco needed to be a success."
"A handful of preparatory drawings have survived for the lost Hercules Killing the Hydra. They record the development of this impressive upright composition and give some idea of its original appearance. They also show how strongly the figure was inspired by feigned sculptures of heroic male nudes painted by the Carracci in frieze decorations in Bolognese palaces. In Guercino's earliest study, the nude hero smites the monster with his club with extravagant movements. In further studies, Guercino tried out a more static interpretation of the subject, with the victorious Hercules standing in a relaxed posture on the monster's corpse, as he rests his hands a little complacently on his upturned club. Whether this more dignified solution was adopted is unknown, but from the often well-documented progress of Guercino's compositional ideas through surviving studies, we know that he had a habit of curbing the emotional charge of his first thoughts in favour of a more sober final painted result."
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) St Roch thrown into Prison 1618 fresco (in situ) Oratorio di San Rocco, Bologna |
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) St Roch thrown into Prison (detail) 1618 fresco (in situ) Oratorio di San Rocco, Bologna |
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) St Roch thrown into Prison 1618 drawing (compositional study) Musée du Louvre |
 |
| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) St Roch thrown into Prison 1618 drawing (head study, soldier in background) British Museum |
"In the same year, Guercino and other contemporary Bolognese artists . . . were engaged in painting a cycle of 11 small-sized frescoes of the Life of St Roch for the Oratorio di S. Rocco, Bologna. . . . Guercino contributed St Roch Thrown into Prison, the second compartment from the front, on the right-hand wall. Guercino's is among the most lifelike and dramatic of the series. The brutality of the action is its most immediate characteristic, enhanced by its rich colour and variety of texture. . . . [Carlo Cesare] Malvasia said the fresco took Guercino just half a day, and its speed of execution may have a bearing on its dynamic effect."
– quoted texts from The Paintings of Guercino: a revised and expanded catalogue raisonné by Nicholas Turner (Rome: Ugo Bozzi Editore, 2017)