Italian painter and draughtsman. He was one of the leading painters of
the Bolognese school and one of the most accomplished draughtsmen of the
Italian Baroque. His paintings show a command of subtle effects of light
and dark, with the figures revealing a wide variety of gesture and
facial expression, the result of the artist’s good grasp of human
psychology. Guercino’s style changed dramatically during his long
career. His early works are robust in handling, rich in muted colour and
dramatic in lighting and composition. But after a short visit to Rome in
1621–3, his painting began slowly to alter as he came under the
influence of a more classical style of painting, then so popular in
official circles. He was deeply affected by the austere classicism of
one of his greatest rivals, Guido Reni. Following Reni’s death in 1642,
Guercino moved from his native Cento, where he had previously spent
almost the whole of his career, to Bologna, and assumed the position of
the city’s principal painter. His activity as a painter is particularly
well documented, thanks to the extensive list of his commissions in
Malvasia’s biography (based on documentation to which he had access in
Guercino’s house), together with the Libro dei conti (account
book) recording payments for his commissions, which was kept in
Guercino’s studio from 1629 until his death by his younger brother,
PAOLO ANTONIO BARBIERI, with whom he occasionally collaborated.
A Donor Presented to the Virgin
1616
Oil on canvas, 309 x 192 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
The Resurrected Christ Appears to the Virgin
1629
Oil on canvas, 260 x 179 cm
Pinacoteca Comunale, Cento
Angels Weeping over the Dead Christ
1618
Oil on copper, 36 x 44 cm
National Gallery, London
Et in Arcadia Ego
1618-22
Oil on canvas, 82 x 91 cm
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
Aurora
1621
Fresco
Casino Ludovisi, Rome
Ermina Finds the Wounded Tancred
1618-19
Oil on canvas, 145,5 x 187,5 cm
Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome
The Martyrdom of St Peter
1618-19
Oil on canvas, 320 x 193 cm
Galleria Estense, Modena
Return of the Prodigal Son
1619
Oil on canvas, 106,5 x 143,5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Samson Captured by the Philistines
1619
Oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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