Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino

Harry Michaels,
his sale and others, London, Christie's, 7 July 1981, lot 51,
purchased by a European private collector,
by inheritance to the present owner

Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino, 1591-1666, I Disegni (catalogue by Sir Denis Mahon), 1992, p. 252, no. 159, reproduced

Laid down on an old sheet of card. The sheet has two losses, the first to the left half of the upper edge and the second to the lower left corner. Both of these losses have been made up. The sheet itself has a narrow band of discoloration to its four edges, as the result of an old mount, as well as areas of slight rubbing and surface dirt throughout. The red chalk medium remains predominantly fresh throughout this attractive sheet. Sold in a modern giltwood 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.

The present work was previously dated by Sir Dennis Mahon to circa 1622-27, due in part to stylistic analogies with two drawings at Windsor: Saint Chrysogonus with a putto,¹ which is a study, with considerable variations, for the large canvas of the same subject in Lancaster House, London,² and a drawing depicting Four putti,³  related to the painting of Saint Gregory the Great with Jesuit Saints,⁴ previously in the Mahon collection and now in the National Gallery, London.

Though it has not yet been possible to connect the putti in the present work to a known painting by the artist, the bravura handling of the red chalk medium and delicate stumping is highly characteristic of Guercino's graphic oeuvre at this relatively early point in his career.

^1. D. Mahon and N. Turner, The Drawings of Guercino in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, Cambridge 1989, p. 11, no. 20, reproduced fig. 20

^2. D. Stone, Guercino: Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1991, p. 103, no. 80, reproduced

^3. Mahon and Turner, op. cit., p. 20, no. 35, reproduced fig. 36

^4. Stone, op. cit.,  pp. 128-129, no. 106, reproduced