Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino

Sale, New York, Christie's, 12 January 1995, lot 26

Framed. Laid down on an old mount. Made up at the upper left corner, and a small loss to the lower left corner. There are some very slight, very pale marks on the sheet which look like red chalk (possibly rubbed from another drawing), but otherwise the paper is entirely clear, and in excellent condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This portrait, which combines caricature with unflinching observation of the sitter's stubble and wrinkled skin, is typical of Guercino's rapidly drawn studies of peasants.  The similar combination of rapid pen work with brown wash in drawings such as A bearded monk in an English private collection or A peasant with his spectacles stuck over his ear in the British Museum, both dated to the mid-1630s, would suggest that this study is from the same period.¹

1.  N. Turner and C. Plazzotta, Drawings by Guercino from British Collections, exhibition catalogue, London, British Museum, 1991, nos. 109 and 208, both reproduced