ATTRIBUTED TO CESARE GENNARI | SAINT AGNES

Anonymous sale, Rome, Christie's, 4 December 2000, lot 610 (as Circle of Guercino);

There acquired.

Following in the footsteps of many of his family members, Cesare Gennari joined the workshop of Guercino in Bologna in 1672. The prime version of this painting by Guercino, a half length Saint Agnes acquired by the Cardinal Alderano Cybo in 1652, is now lost, while a later, autograph version from circa 1660 is in a private collection ^[1]. Attesting to the popularity of this composition are the number of known replicas by Guercino and his workshop, likely executed to satisfy the demands of his patrons.

^1. N. Turner, The Paintings of Guercino: A Revised and Expanded Catalogue raisonné, Rome 2017, p. 769.