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| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Prophets, Sibyls, and the Nativity of Christ 1626-27 frescoes Duomo di Piacenza |
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| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Prophets, Sibyls, and the Nativity of Christ 1626-27 frescoes Duomo di Piacenza |
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| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Prophets, Sibyls, and the Nativity of Christ 1626-27 frescoes Duomo di Piacenza |
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| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Prophets, Sibyls, and the Nativity of Christ 1626-27 frescoes Duomo di Piacenza |
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| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Prophets, Sibyls, and the Nativity of Christ 1626-27 frescoes Duomo di Piacenza |
"According to [Carlo Cesare] Malvasia, on 12 May 1626 Guercino set off for Piacenza –probably from Reggio Emilia rather than Cento – where he remained until the autumn. After mixing his paints, assisted by his studio, he set to work painting Prophets in the six blank triangular segments of the cupola. Morazzone [1573-1626] had already frescoed two of these spaces with his Isaiah and David [directly below], but the decoration was left incomplete on his death earlier that year."
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| Morazzone (Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli) Prophet Isaiah 1625 fresco (dome panel) Duomo di Piacenza |
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| Morazzone (Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli) Prophet David 1625 fresco (dome panel) Duomo di Piacenza |
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| Morazzone (Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli) Compositional Study for the Prophet David 1625 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"Guercino then accepted the Cathedral authorities' urgent invitation to finish the decoration. In his six Prophets, Guercino followed Morazzone's formula of placing the figure in an elongated triangular compartment, accompanied by a youthful angel and one or two putti. The monotony of the compositional field is broken up by the inclusion of books, inscribed scrolls, heavy stone tablets, billowing drapery and dark clouds."
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| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Prophets, Sibyls, and the Nativity of Christ 1626-27 frescoes Duomo di Piacenza |
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| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Prophets, Sibyls, and the Nativity of Christ 1626-27 frescoes Duomo di Piacenza |
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| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Prophets, Sibyls, and the Nativity of Christ 1626-27 frescoes Duomo di Piacenza |
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| Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) Prophets, Sibyls, and the Nativity of Christ 1626-27 fresco Duomo di Piacenza |
Detailed views to follow in subsequent posts.
– quoted texts from The Paintings of Guercino: a revised and expanded catalogue raisonné by Nicholas Turner (Rome: Ugo Bozzi Editore, 2017)