Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 9, 1666), best known as Guercino or Il Guercino, was an Italian Baroque painter from the region of Emilia, and active in Rome and Bologna. Guercino is Italian for squinter, a nickname that was given to him because he was cross-eyed. He is especially noted for his many superb drawings. Guercino was one of the most brilliant draughtsmen of his age. In addition to preparatory studies for his paintings, he made many informal drawings for his own pleasure (including landscapes, genre scenes, and caricatures) and these—usually executed in pen and brown ink—often show remarkable freedom and vitality. The finest collection of his drawings is in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. Guercino was born at Cento, a village between Bologna and Ferrara. He seems to have been mainly self-taught, and his early work drew on a variety of north Italian sources, notably Ludovico Carracci and Venetian painting, to create a highly individual style characterized by dramatic and capricious lighting, strong colour, and broad, vigorous brushwork. By 1615 he moved to Bologna, where his work earned the praise of an elder Ludovico Carracci. He was then recommended by Marchese Enzo Bentivoglio to the Bolognese Ludovisi Pope, Pope Gregory XV. His two years (1621-23) spent in Rome were very productive. From this stay date his frescoes of Aurora at the casino of the Villa Ludovisi and the ceiling in San Crisogono (1622) of San Chrysogonus in Glory; his portrait of Pope Gregory (now in the Getty Museum), and, what is considered his masterpiece, The Burial of Saint Petronilla or St. Petronilla Altarpiece, for the Vatican (now in the Museo Capitolini). His short stay in Rome introduced a more classical feeling to his work; this trend became more pronounced after he moved to Bologna in 1642. Some of his later pieces approach rather to the manner of his great contemporary Guido Reni, and are painted with more lightness and clearness. He was remarkable for the extreme rapidity of his execution—he completed no fewer than 106 large altar-pieces for churches, and his other paintings amount to about 144. In 1626 he began his frescoes in the Duomo of Piacenza. Guercino was esteemed very highly in his lifetime, and continued to paint and teach up to the time of his death in 1666, amassing a notable fortune. Giancarlo Morisi - Director Hotel il Guercino - Bologna - Italy
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 15:47:19 +0000
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