Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino

Casa Gennari;
F. Forni;
E. Bouverie (L.325);
sale, London, Sotheby's, 5 December 1977, lot 11;
sale, New York, Sotheby's, 9 January 1996, lot 27;
sale, London, Sotheby's, 5 July 2006, lot 52

David M. Stone, Guercino Master Draftsman, exhib. cat., Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Art Museums, et al., 1991, p. 225, no. 225, reproduced plate G, fig. 225

Generally in good condition. Laid down on very thin japan paper. A small tear to the right margin, repaired, although not in any drawn section and hardly visible. Slight surface staining and dirt; once possibly laid down on another sheet . Chalk very fresh and strong. Mounted and framed in an imitation 17th Century Bolognese carved, gilded wood 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This handsome study of a youth has been dated by both Sir Denis Mahon and Nicholas Turner to the 1630s.  Stylistically it resembles a number of studies drawn by the artist in the second half of that decade, and can be closely compared to the red chalk study of a young man standing, now at Windsor.¹ The latter is preparatory for the figure of Apollo in a painting of Apollo flaying Marsyas (now lost but known from a copy), for which Guercino was paid on 18 December 1637 by Saulo Guidotti of Bologna. Two other separate studies of an angel in pen and ink, also at Windsor and connected with Guercino's Annunciation in the Ospedale Maggiore, SS. Annunziata, Milan (datable 1638-9) are also close in style to this drawing.² The present drawing does not appear to be connected to a known work, but a similar figure of a youth appears in reverse in a much later painting by Guercino, the Prodigal Son of around 1654-55 (fig. 1).

1. See Denis Mahon and Nicholas Turner, The Drawings of Guercino..., Cambridge 1989, p. 54, cat. no. 91, reproduced fig. 96
2. See Mahon and Turner, op.cit., p. 55, cat. nos. 94-5, reproduced figs. 99-100