Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino

Italian, 1591 - 1666

BiographyGiovanni Francesco Barbieri's father was apparently employed to transport wood and bundles of sticks. Giovanni Francesco himself was given the nickname of Il Guercino (squinter) on account of a squint in his right eye. At first he trained under Zagoni in Cento, then went to Bologna and worked with Giovanni Battista Cremonini in the workshop where he received pupils. He then worked with Benedetto Gennari, whose family he later joined when Benedetto married his sister. Despite past opinion to the contrary, it does not seem possible that he would have known Michelangelo da Caravaggio. At the time of the latter's death in 1609, Guercino would have been hardly 18 years old. The proximity of Bologna placed him in contact at an early stage with the teaching methods of the Carracci family. Ludovico Carracci had the dominant influence on Guercino. As a very young man, Guercino would have copied the important painting of the Madonna and Child, which Ludovico Carracci had painted for the Capuchins in Cento in 1591. Ludovico Carracci publically acknowledged his precocious talent. Guercino left Bologna for Venice, where he stayed from 1618 to 1621. In about 1621, Pope Gregory XV summoned him to Rome. Although the death of Gregory XV in 1623 triggered the return of Guercino to the city of his birth, he nevertheless continued to travel, depending on the large-scale works entrusted to him. He had a considerable reputation. Since he wished to remain in Italy, he rejected a great number of proposals from Marie de' Medici, Mazarin and Charles I of England. In 1655, Queen Christina of Sweden paid him a visit.

Guercino's work can be divided into two or three more or less distinct periods. His earliest work, which owes a good deal to Carracci, consisted of remarkably dynamic compositions (which would constitute one of the characteristics of the Baroque style). His technique was to use violently contrasting chiaroscuro, which could be attributed to Caravaggio's influence from the point of view of the search for naturalism and the lighting process. On the other hand, it could be attributed to Correggio from the point of view of the very strong shadow and very vivid lighting, which are reconciled with dark fierce colours, from reddish browns to vivid red and purplish colours: The Four Evangelists (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden) and Return of the Prodigal Son in 1617 (Galleria Sabauda, Turin). During the era between 1616 and 1620, he began a series of altarpieces and wall decorations that would occupy a large part of his working life until 1661: The Virgin between Two Saints (church of the Rosary, Cento). During this first period, he occasionally achieved an almost gracious expression: Madonna with Swallow, 1615-1616 (Uffizi). During his stay in Venice the dynamic and dramatic characteristics of his productions developed still further: Herminia finds Tancred Wounded, 1618 (Doria-Pamphili Palace, Rome); Christ Dying (church of San Pietro, Cento); Martyrdom of St Peter, 1619 (Galleria Estense, Modena); St Benedict and St Francis of Assisi (Louvre). Lanzi mentioned the St William Receiving the Habit from this period. He painted it in Bologna in 1620 in the hospital for the disabled. The ambition of the composition, the dynamism of the attitudes of the figures, the boldness of their positions in the space, the foreshortening, and general chiaroscuro seemed to confirm his acquaintance of Caravaggio's work.

Guercin's stay in Rome can be considered as the start of a second period - and the sole further period according to some. Pope Gregory XV gave him a favourable reception, and employed him to decorate St Peter's and the Villa Lodovisi. In 1621 he painted a Dawn at the Villa Ludovisi. It was perhaps executed in a spirit of rivalry, as this subject had already been handled by Guido Reni. Both their works adorn the ceiling. The one by Guercino can be distinguished by the use of a trompe l'oeil foreshortening technique which accentuates the dynamism of it in the space. Lanzi noted that Guido Reni remarked that he was distancing himself as much as possible from Guercino's style, but that the latter was approaching nearer his style as much as possible. Guercino painted the famous Burial and Ascension of St Petronilla (currently in the Capitol Museum). The swirling virtuosity of the composition and the violence of the general chiaroscuro, are clearly reminiscent of Caravaggio; a fact which can be explained by the great number of his works in the city. In 1623 he painted the Release of St Peter (Prado) in the same spirit.

Some authors point to Domenichino's influence when picking out the main features of his gradual change in style as a result of his stay in Rome. Guercino was abandonning the extreme dynamic theatricality of his Baroque manner. It was becoming more temperate in form and spirit and had rejected exaggerated attitudes and movements, and hard contrasts. The style of his painting became increasingly lighter, giving a more austere frontal layout to his compositions. It would be found late in 1646 in the Circumcision of Jesus Christ (Lyons Museum) and in 1647 in St Peter's Tears (Louvre). Nevertheless, in that same year of 1647, the Madonna and Child and St Bruno (Art Gallery in Bologna) still soars in quite a caravaggesque manner. There are differing opinions concerning the diversity of the perceived influences, because influences and styles are superimposed on one another and alternate over the course of the same eras. But diversity is effectively one of Guercino's characteristics. His virtuosity was such that he was capable of assimilating everything that he felt would enhance his work.

Once again established in Cento during the 20 years which followed the death of Gregory XV, Guercino travelled around to execute commissions, notably in Rome. In 1623 he started the decoration of the cathedral in Piacenza, rivalling Michelangelo in the decoraton of the cathedral dome: Prophets and Sibyls. He remained a long time in Rome and his productivity was very considerable: Persian Sibyl (Capitol Museum), which displays a curious inspiration and has been known as 'Dreamer'; Eternal Father (Art Gallery in Bologna), of which it was said that he painted it in a single night, a great number of paintings for the churches in Rome: St John the Baptist (Doria-Pamphili Palace, Rome), and in about 1630 Death of Dido (Spada Gallery, Rome). He painted an important series of horizontal paintings: Incredulity of St Thomas in 1621 (Vatican Museum) and the Return of the Prodigal Son in about 1627 (Borghese Gallery, Rome). The figures are centred but portrayed in a three-quarter's pose, in accordance with Venetian models, such as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione or Titian.

In 1642, following the death of Guido Reni, Guercino settled permanently in Bologna and became its leading painter. Some say that his style then changed markedly. It lost its strength but retained its magnificence. Being in some way Guido Reni's successor, he ultimately became the great representative of the Bologna School. Some regard this as a third period. In charge of an important workshop - and thus following in the footsteps of the Carracci family - he created works here that show signs of contributions from pupils. This period effectively saw the result of the austere frontal manner, which was influenced by and attributed to Domenichino. The Circumcision of Jesus from 1646 dates from this period (in the church of Jesus and Mary in Bologna, or the one in Lyons, which may well be a replica); the Tears of St Peter from 1647 (Louvre); the Marriage of the Virgin (in San Petronio); the Annunciation (in Forlì); Hagar and Ismael (in Milan); mythological scenes: Endymion (Doria-Pamphili Palace in Rome); Cephalus and Procris (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden); but also unexpected genre scenes: Overturned Coach (Uffizi).

Guercino had few pupils, but he generated a great number of imitators. His pupils include his brother Paolo, his two nephews Gennari, Giulio Coralli and Fulgence Mondini.

Guercino had a very fertile mind. He produced a vast number of drawings which form a collection of 10 volumes. Malvasia mentions 104 altarpieces, 14 large-scale compositions for princes or important persons, from a total of approximately 800 paintings. Art historians' points of view are diverse in the analysis of his work as a whole. This reflects the multiplicity of his themes, ranging from religious, mythological and history subjects, and portraits to nudes, such as Susanna and the Elders from Madrid in 1617, Women Bathing from Rotterdam around 1618, and Venus, Mars and Cupid from Modena about 1633. It also reflects the complexity of his styles, which overlap each other. Besides being a major figure in the Baroque style as a result of his fluent and powerful virtuosity in complex and dynamic compositions, Guercino can be distinguished by what is perhaps the most dramatically stirring characteristic, which was his instinct as a colourist in the chiaroscuro which justifies his being classed as a follower of the Caravaggisti.

"GUERCINO." In Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/benezit/B00080421 (accessed April 11, 2012).

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