Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino

Sale, London, Christie's, 6 July 1999, lot 42;
sale, New York, Christie’s, 22 January 2003, lot 26

Glued down at the four corners to another sheet of paper which in turn is hinged to the mount at the upper margin. Sheet is relatively free of staining. Faint marks at the four corners where the sheet has been laid down and some light staining around the edges of the sheet. There is a tiny area that has been made up in the lower right corner. Overall in good condition, chalk remains fresh and vibrant. Sold in a wooden and gilded frame.
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Sir Denis Mahon, at the time of the Christie's sale in 1999, confirmed the attribution to Guercino and suggested that the present sheet may be an early study for the Prophet Zechariah for the cupola of the Cathedral at Piacenza.¹ 

The commission to decorate the cupola with frescoes of the prophets had first been given to the Lombard painter, Pier Francesco Mazzuccelli, called Il Morazzone, in 1625.  Guercino inherited the project to complete the decorative scheme the following year, after Morazzone's death. The present drawing is one of a number of studies, including works in both pen and ink and red chalk, that relate to the figure of the Prophet Zechariah.  Of the other known red chalk drawings for the same figure, the present study is closest in technique and size to one at Windsor, in which the artist depicts the prophet in a similar seated pose, holding a book.²

This grand drawing, possibly executed from life, is a very good example of how Guercino's rapid and supremely confident handling of chalk can create a vibrant yet meditative image.  Another study for the same figure was sold at Sotheby's, New York earlier this year.³

1. P. Bagni, Guercino a Piacenza, Gli affreschi nella cupola della Cattedrale, Bologna 1984, p. 68, no. 21, reproduced p. 69
2. D. Mahon and N. Turner, The Drawings of Guercino in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen at Windsor Castle, Cambridge 1989, no. 39, reproduced fig. 39
3. Guercino, A seated nude youth holding a cloak, sale, New York, Sotheby's, 29 January 2014, lot 67