Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino

Dr. Arthur Feldmann, Brno;
sale, Lucerne, Gilhofer and Ranschburg, 28 June 1934, lot 16 (unsold, returned to Dr. Feldmann);
looted during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia;
with Schaeffer Galleries, New York;
C.F. Louis De Wild, New York;
J. Theodor Cremer,  
his sale Amsterdam, Sotheby Mak van Waay, 17 November 1980, lot 133;
bought by C.G.  Boerner, Düsseldorf (Lagerliste 74, 1981, no. 6);
Elmar W. Seibel, Boston;
Private collection

New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, Drawings from New York Collections, II, The Seventeenth Century in Italy, (catalogue by Felice Stampfle and Jacob Bean), 1967, no. 43, illustrated;
Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Art Museums, Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, and Cleveland, Museum of Art, Guercino Master Draftsman, Works from North American Collections, (catalogue by David Stone), 1991, no. 52, illustrated;
Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino 1591-1666, Disegni, (catalogue by Denis Mahon), 1991, no. 131, illustrated

W. Vitzthum, 'Drawings from the Scholz Collection in Germany,' Master Drawings, I, no. 4, 1963, pp. 58-9, reproduced pl. 41;
B. Grimaldi, Il Guercino, Bologna 1968, reproduced fig. 197;
L. Salerno and D. Mahon, I Dipinti del Guercino, Rome 1988, under no. 243;   
D. Mahon, Il Guercino. Dipinti e Disegni, Il Guercino e la Bottega, exh. cat., Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, et al, 1991, p. 292, under no.108

Overall condition very good and fresh. Some very light foxing throughout, and slight staining in the top corners from previous hinges. Ink, wash and paper otherwise in very good condition. Sold in an attractive modern gilded frame.
"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."

This sheet consists of two studies by Guercino for the figure group of Saint Philip Neri with accompanying angels, for the lower part of a painting that the artist completed in 1647 for the Bolognese church of Santa Maria di Galliera (fig.1).  Two further pen and ink studies for the same lower section are known: the first, formerly in the collection of Janos Scholz, is now in the Pierpont Morgan Library, while the second, closest to the final painted composition and showing the saint with upraised arms, is in a private collection.¹ 

Only some fifteen years later did Guercino add the figures of the Madonna and Child to the top left of the painting, an alteration which is recorded both in the Libro dei Conti and in the Felsina Pittrice: in September 1662 Padre Ettore Ghislieri, a patron and admirer of Guercino, paid the artist 112 scudi for executing these two figures 'et altri ritochamenti' ² This addition fundamentally altered the composition, which had previously focussed only on the figure of Saint Philip and the two angels. 

Many of Guercino's drawings bear witness to the way in which he continually adjusted and corrected his own designs, sometimes on the same sheet, and the extremely rapid and intense use of pen and wash seen in the present sheet are abundant evidence of his skill as a draughtsman and his great fluency in the use of these media. As David Stone observed in his 1991 exhibition catalogue, "..few drawings could demontrate better... the intensity and velocity of Guercino's search for perfection as a designer."

This drawing was part of the extensive and distinguished drawings collection of Dr. Arthur Feldmann, which was looted on 15 March 1939 during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.  For a full account of the Feldmann Collection and its history, see the catalogue of the Old Master Drawings sale at Sotheby's, London, on 6 July 2005 (p. 22).  The present sheet, which passed in good faith through a number of hands after it was looted, is now being sold by agreement between the present owners and the heirs of Dr. Arthur Feldmann.

1. Sold, London, Christie's, 16 April 1991, lot 141. Both drawings reproduced, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino 1591-1666, Disegni, exh. cat., op. cit., 1991, nos. 132-3.
2. D. Mahon, Il Guercino. Dipinti e Disegni.. exh. cat., op. cit., 1991, p. 292.