Lot 35
  • 35

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino

Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
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Description

  • Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino
  • study of the seated virgin, turning to the right
  • Red chalk

Provenance

With P. & D. Colnaghi, London, 1945,
with Katrin Bellinger, Colnaghi, London (Master Drawings, 2004, no. 14), from whom bought by the present owner

Literature

N. Turner, Guercino, la scuola, la maniera. I disegni agli Uffizi, exhib. cat., Florence, Uffizi, et al., 2008, p. 63, under no. 23, fig. 23a and note 55

Condition

Unframed. Hinged at the upper corners of the sheet. Bears an 18th Century inscription in brown ink, verso: Guercino.8.p. The drawing must have been slightly cleaned in the past, to reduce some light scattered foxing. It also seems to have been detached from an old backing. The sheet is slightly buckled on the right, left and lower margins. A slight linear stain across the hair of the virgin, although not very noticeable. The catalogue illustration is not as strong as the drawing itself: the red chalk is darker and the traces of foxing are less visible than appears in the photograph. The drawing and the chalk are generally in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

Catalogue Note

This is one of the many studies made by Guercino in preparation for the fresco decoration of the Cathedral of Piacenza.  The commission was originally given in 1625 to the Milanese artist Pierfrancesco Mazzucchelli, il Morazzone, but his death a year later resulted in Guercino's being summoned to complete the project.  By the end of 1626 he had painted the remaining six compartments of the octagonal cupola, and after spending Christmas in his native Cento, he returned to start work on the eight arched lunettes beneath the cupola, with a frieze of putti below.  The subjects of the lunettes alternate between scenes relating to the Nativity of Christ and pairs of Sibyls. 

Clearly the importance of the commission demanded that Guercino produce a large number of preparatory drawings, but David Stone also notes that this was the first project for which the artist used the true fresco technique, buon fresco, as opposed to fresco secco, in which the artist paints onto the dry plaster.  Buon fresco only allowed Guercino a small amount of time in which to perfect the scenes before the plaster dried, requiring considerable planning to ensure the compositions were successful.  Furthermore, as the Piacenza cupola is so tall, Guercino needed to foreshorten his figures drastically to avoid their distortion from below, complex adjustments which also needed to be carefully rehearsed.1

The present sheet was made in preparation for the Virgin Mary in the lunette depicting The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, for which another fifteen drawings are known.2  The drawing must date from relatively late in the process, as the Virgin appears in the fresco in the same pose that we see here.3  Two other studies in red chalk on light brown paper are also preparatory for the figure, for the drapery over her left arm and legs.The scene evolved a great deal from Guercino's first thoughts, as three compositional drawings, one in the National Gallery of Art, Washington and two in the collection of Sir Denis Mahon, on loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, show the figures in very different poses to those in the fresco.5  In the two drawings at the Ashmolean (one of which is double-sided), the Virgin makes the same gesture that we see in the present sheet, raising one hand to undo her bodice as she reaches for the hungry Christ Child with the other: a very human gesture, typical of Guercino. 

1. D.M. Stone, Guercino Master Draftsman, Works from North American Collections, Cambridge, Mass. 1991, p. 45
2.  Sir Denis Mahon lists five studies in his exhibition catalogue, Il Guercino, Catalogo Critico dei Disegni, Bologna 1968, pp. 110-111, to which he and Nicholas Turner added a further ten: D. Mahon and N. Turner, The Drawings of Guercino...at Windsor Castle, Cambridge 1989, pp. 23-24
3. Stone, op. cit., p. 48
4. Mahon, op. cit., 1968, nos. 109-110
5. Stone, op. cit., p. 47 and N. Turner and C. Plazzotta, Drawings by Guercino from British Collections, London 1991, pp. 91-2, no. 62