Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino

Sale, London, Sotheby's, 1 December 1983, lot 113
European private collector,
by inheritance to the present owner

Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, Il Guercino. Disegni, 1992, p. 92  no. 54 (entry by D. Mahon), reproduced, fig. 54

Cento, Pinacoteca Civica, La 'Candida Rosa', 1988, reproduced p. 179, under no. 65 (entry by P. Bagni);
D. Mahon and N. Turner,  The Drawings of Guercino in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, Cambridge 1989, p. 24;
J. Bentini, Disegni Emiliani del Sei-Settecento, I grandi cicli di affreschi, Milano 1990, p. 92, no. 14. 8, reproduced in colour ;
P. Bagni, Gli Affreschi del Guercino nel Duomo di Piacenza, Padova 1994, p. 120, no. 85, reproduced

Hinged to mount at upper margin. Light scattered foxing throughout. Some larger brown stains located in the upper right section of the sheet in his garment, a few at the lower right corner and one lower left. There is a circular red wash stain, upper left. There is a repaired tear upper right. Red chalk is still strong and vibrant and overall image powerful. Sold framed.
"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 red chalk study by Guercino relates to the artist’s important early decorative scheme in the cupola of the Cathedral of Piacenza.  It is preparatory for the central figure of St. Simeon holding the infant Christ, in the centre foreground of The Presentation in the Temple (fig. 1), and closely relates to an important finished drawing, now in a private collection, sold recently in these Rooms (6th July 2016, lot 223).

The Presentation in the Temple is one of a series of scenes frescoed by Guercino in four of the eight arched lunettes located directly below the uppermost part of the cupola.  These scenes, representing The Annunciation, The Adoration of the Shepherds, The Presentation in the Temple and The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (see also lot 36), occupy alternate lunettes, separated by others housing windows flanked by frescoed Sibyls.  Above these lunettes rise the eight segments of the top part of the cupola, each filled by the monumental figure of a prophet.

The commission for the decoration of the cupola was originally entrusted to the Milanese artist Pierfrancesco Mazzuchelli, called il Morazzone (1573-1626), but he died suddenly in 1626, having completed just two of the large figures of prophets. Guercino took over the project, and by the end of the same year he had painted the remaining six prophets.  The following year, Guercino executed the decoration of the eight arched lunettes, and underneath them, in the drum of the cupola, a continuous frieze of putti.  

The present sheet, though solely focusing on the position of the Christ Child, appears to come just after the highly finished sheet for the St. Simeon, mentioned above, and it gives us an insight into Guercino's sequence of studies as he worked towards the final composition.  In fact, the Child is here in the same position as in the final painting, with his right arm falling down, while the body of St. Simeon is just broadly sketched.  Guercino continuously searches for different solutions, making endless alterations and revisions, also at the final stage of a composition, as this drawing demonstrates.

Given the importance of this early commission it is not surprising that Guercino made a large number of preparatory studies, some of which have survived.  The artist’s first step in the preparation of The Presentation in the Temple, as for the other scenes, seems to have been to make rapid sketches in pen and ink for the whole composition.  A very handsome pen and ink preliminary study for the whole composition has survived, and is at the Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie.¹  The preliminary studies, ‘primi pensieri’, were followed by pen or chalk studies for individual figures.  Guercino focused on, and drew, every detail, often preferring to use red chalk.  Besides the present sheet and the finished study mentioned above, there are two other related red chalk studies: one for the old woman's head and shoulders, behind the Madonna, still in a private collection,² and a study for the draped curtain behind St Simeon, in the Schloss Fachsenfeld collection, now in the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart.³

^1. J. Bentini, op. cit., p. 85, no. 14. 7, pp. 90-91 reproduced in colour

^2. Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, exhib. cat., op.cit., 1991, p. 94, no. 56, reproduced fig. 56 

^3. Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie, inv. no. 111/80; J. Bentini, op. cit., p. 92, no. 14. 9, reproduced in colour