GIOVANNI FRANCESCO BARBIERI, CALLED GUERCINO | Portrait of Girolamo Giraldi, seated, holding a letter

Canon Girolamo Giraldi, Cento (1596-1676);
Senator Ferdinando Marescalchi, Bologna (1754-1816);
Count Benedict Emmanuel Tyszkiewicz (1801-1866), Raudondvaris, Grand Duchy of Lithuania (per an inscription on the reverse of the now-removed relining canvas);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 4 December 2013, lot 166 (as Benedetto Gennari), where acquired. 

M. Preti Hamard, Ferdinando Marescalchi (1754-1816), un collezionista italiano nella Parigi Napoleonica, Bologna 2005, vol. II, pp. 91-92;
F. Gozzi and J. Kilian eds, Guercino: The Triumph of the Baroque, Masterpieces from Cento, Rome and Polish Collections, exhibition catalogue, Warsaw 2013, pp. 21, 22, reproduced fig. 5.

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 work is in very good condition. The canvas is unlined. The tacking edges have been reinforced, and the work is well stretched. The canvas was previously lined, but removing the lining has provided an attractive surface. The paint layer is cleaned, varnished and retouched. The paint layer is not visibly abraded, but it is possible that some slight weakness may have developed in the calligraphy in the letter held by the sitter. The retouches are sparingly applied overall, and address some cracks. The only concentration of cracking is in the face, below and above the eyes. The retouches are well applied, and the work should be hung as is.
"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 captivating portrait is an excellent example of Guercino's portraiture from his mature period. Painted in 1655, the same year as his celebrated Self-portrait with an allegory of Faithful Love, in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the portrait shows the 59-year-old Girolamo Giraldi, a notable figure in the religious and cultural milieu of the artist's hometown of Cento. The sitter is known to have borrowed money from the artist, and paid him interest, and one might assume from this informal portrait that their relationship extended to a personal friendship.¹ Indeed, the work is not recorded in the artist's meticulous account book, the Libro dei Conti, despite several payments from Giraldi being recorded, suggesting that this was not a formal commission but more likely a gift from the artist to the sitter. This would certainly explain the inclusion of the sitter's light stubble, and the penetrative yet sympathetic approach which frames the excellent quality of the portrait. The subtle contrapposto provides an unexpected dynamism which is echoed in the ripples in the sitter's black garments.  The painting enjoys a distinguished provenance. The Bolognese Senator Marescalchi was a notable collector and ardent supporter of Napoleon, earning several important political positions, and was depicted in David's Napoleon Crowning Empress Joséphine, today in the Louvre.² The work subsequently passed in to the collection of the Lithuanian Count Benedict Emmanuel Tyszkiewicz, who is known to have owned other works by Guercino. 

The attribution has been independently endorsed by Dr David Stone and Dottoressa Barbara Ghelfi after inspection of the original.

1. B. Ghelfi, ed., Il libro dei conti del Guercino, Venice 1997, pp. 223-25.
2. The present painting is listed in Marescalchi's inventories of 1813, 1817 and 1824.