Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is well restored. If the canvas is perhaps slightly tightened and the varnish attended to, it could be hung as is. The lining is old, and there is a fairly noticeable series of waves in the canvas in the upper right. The painting is slightly dirty, but has an attractive patina. The paint layer looks very healthy, and there is a notable lack of abrasion almost everywhere that one looks. Under ultraviolet light, one can see that some of the old varnish is slightly milky. On top of this varnish, there are tiny dots of retouching in a few places in the head and beard, fewer in the chest and almost none in the remainder of the figure. The sky seems to be very well preserved. To the left of the figure in the background between the crucifix and the figure, there are four or five horizontal lines that may correspond to retouches. There may be slight paint losses in these areas. It may be an idea to structurally attend to the upper right, but the condition is very good.
"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."

This previously unpublished canvas by Giovan Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino, shows Saint Jerome in the desert, his torso twisting in order to contemplate the crucifix as he does penance.  An engraving in reverse, executed by the artist’s nephew, Gianfrancesco Mucci and following this composition exactly (see fig. 1) was published by Prisco Bagni in 1988.¹  It seems likely the young Gianfrancesco learned the art of engraving from Francesco Curti, a close contemporary of Guercino, before 1639 and produced numerous engravings in the following two years, ceasing entirely when he followed his uncle to Bologna in 1642.  It seems likely therefore that the present painting dates to circa 1640-1641 and that the engraving was completed that same year.

1.  P. Bagni, Il Guercino e i suoi incisori, Rome 1988, p.120, reproduced fig. 158.