Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino

Probably in the collection of the Conti Guidi di Cesena, early 19th century;
With Colnaghi, London, 1976;
With the Walpole Gallery, London, from whom acquired by the present owner.

London, Colnaghi, Italian Paintings 1550-1780, 26 May - 2 July 1976, no. 15.

M. Pulini, "I cinque sentimenti del Guercino", in Guercino. Poesia e sentimento nella pittura del '600, Milan 2003, pp. 78, 188, reproduced p. 78.

ENGRAVED
Probably by Alessandro Bornaccini, circa 1800.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a comparatively recent lining and stretcher, with a restoration from the same period. There are no accidental tears or knocks at all. The surface has a slightly frizzled effect overall with a faint vertical emphasis, and appears to have been rather overheated at some time. There is a certain amount of quite widespread little retouching reinforcing the darker shadowy upper background particularly, especially within some vertical strands. The figure itself is scarcely retouched at all and retains its magnificent presence just faintly veiled by the slight blurring of the surface from some angles. Various varnishes might mitigate this effect. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Although impossible to identify with an entry in Guercino's account book the present work would appear to date from the 1640s or very early 1650s and indeed has been dated as such by David M. Stone, to whom we are grateful. The painting has for a long time been considered the pair to a St. Peter crying that was sold New York, Sotheby's, 29 January 2009, lot 29 and that has been dated by Stone to circa 1648 and tentatively identified with entry no. 429 in Guercino's account book, from 4^th April of that year.¹  As pointed out by Stone however, there is no documentary evidence that these two works were conceived as pendants and the pairing is likely to have occurred at a date subsequent to their execution. Regarding the account book, although there are several payments mentioned for a Saint Paul, none of them can be identified with any probability with the present work.²

The composition of this work calls to mind a number of other half length saints, all of a similar size and painted by Guercino within a few years of each other. Other than the afore-mentioned Saint Peter the painting is, for example, closely comparable to a Saint Andrew commissioned by Pietro Mancurti and paid for in March 1656,³ and a different Saint Peter crying in Bologna, Cassa di Risparmio. Each of these works are typical of Guercino's mature style and are characterised by a palette limited to just two or three colours, together with broadly painted areas of drapery, and a particular softness in the execution of the model's features, especially in the hair and beard.

The present painting is probably the one recorded in an engraving by Alessandro Bornaccini (c. 1800-1830), which is in the same sense and places the painting at the beginning of the 19^th century in the collection of the Conti Guidi di Cesena.⁴ There are, furthermore, many versions or probable copies of the present work, one of which, extended at the left but of the same height, was sold Paris, Tajan, 27 June 2001, lot 10 (as 'Attributed to Guercino'). Another depiction of Saint Paul, in which he is again shown in profile facing right, his right hand clutching a downturned sword, is in the Louvre, Paris.⁵

1.  They were exhibited together at Colnaghi, London, in 1976 and have until recently hung together in the Koelliker collection.
2.  See no. 451, a 1651 payment from a certain Abbé Dulcino, for two quadretti, a St John and a St Paul, the latter being smaller than the former; and no. 481 from 1654, also from Dulcino, for both a Saint Peter and a Saint Paul although these are specified as due teste rather than mezze figure. See B. Ghelfi (ed.), Il libro dei conti del Guercino, Bologna 1997, p. 156, no. 451, and p. 165, no. 481.
3.  Offered in these Rooms, 3 December 2008, lot 42; see M. Pulini, Guercino. Poesia e Sentimento nella Pittura del '600, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2003-2004, pp. 184-85, cat. No. 47, reproduced.
4.  See F. Gozzi, Guercino : Le stampe della Pinacoteca Civica, 1997, p. 212, no. 262, reproduced.
5.  See L. Salerno, I dipinti del Guercino, Rome 1988, p. 288, no. 210, reproduced.