Guercino, Italian, 1591-1666
Title: Study of the Infant Christ Child Held by Saint Simeon
Date: c.1627
Medium: Chalk on paper
Dimensions:
16.2 x 19.5 cm
Signed: Bears old attribution in pen and brown ink, verso: uercino [sic, cut to the left]
Credit Line: Purchased, 2017
Object Number: NGI.2017.14
DescriptionThis red chalk study by Guercino relates to the artist’s important early decorative scheme in the cupola of the Cathedral of Piacenza. It is a preparatory drawing for the central figure of Saint Simeon holding the infant Christ, in the centre foreground of The Presentation in the Temple, and closely relates to an important finished drawing, now in a private collection, sold by Sotheby’s on 6th July 2016, lot 223. The Presentation in the Temple is one of a series of scenes frescoed by Guercino in four of the eight arched lunettes located directly below the uppermost part of the cupola. These scenes, representing The Annunciation, The Adoration of the Shepherds, The Presentation in the Temple and The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, occupy alternate lunettes, separated by others housing windows flanked by frescoed Sibyls. Above these lunettes rise the eight segments of the top part of the cupola, each filled by the monumental figure of a prophet.
The commission for the decoration of the cupola was originally entrusted to the Milanese artist Pierfrancesco Mazzuchelli, called il Morazzone (1573-1626), but he died suddenly in 1626, having completed just two of the large figures of prophets. Guercino took over the project, and by the end of the same year he had painted the remaining six prophets. The following year, Guercino executed the decoration of the eight arched lunettes, and underneath them, in the drum of the cupola, a continuous frieze of putti.
This sheet, though solely focusing on the position of the Christ Child, appears to come just after the highly finished sheet, depicting Saint Simeon. In the present drawing, the Christ Child is in the same position as in the final painting, with his right arm falling down, while the body of Saint Simeon is just broadly sketched. Guercino continuously searched for different solutions, making endless alterations and revisions, even at the final stage of a composition, as this drawing demonstrates. Given the importance of this early commission it is not surprising that Guercino made a large number of preparatory studies, some of which have survived. The artist’s first step in the preparation of The Presentation in the Temple, as for the other scenes, seems to have been to make rapid sketches in pen and ink for the whole composition. These preliminary studies, ‘primi pensieri’, were followed by pen or chalk studies for individual figures. Guercino focused on, and drew, every detail, often preferring to use red chalk.
A preparatory drawing such as this gives an insight into Guercino's sequence of studies as he worked up to the final composition. The red chalk medium is still strong and vibrant, which overall contributes to a powerful image. The NGI currently houses two red chalk drawings by Guercino, including a depiction of The Virgin and Child (for the Madonna del Carmine Presenting a Scapular to a Carmelite, in Cento's Pinacoteca Civica, c.1615), (NGI.2603).
The commission for the decoration of the cupola was originally entrusted to the Milanese artist Pierfrancesco Mazzuchelli, called il Morazzone (1573-1626), but he died suddenly in 1626, having completed just two of the large figures of prophets. Guercino took over the project, and by the end of the same year he had painted the remaining six prophets. The following year, Guercino executed the decoration of the eight arched lunettes, and underneath them, in the drum of the cupola, a continuous frieze of putti.
This sheet, though solely focusing on the position of the Christ Child, appears to come just after the highly finished sheet, depicting Saint Simeon. In the present drawing, the Christ Child is in the same position as in the final painting, with his right arm falling down, while the body of Saint Simeon is just broadly sketched. Guercino continuously searched for different solutions, making endless alterations and revisions, even at the final stage of a composition, as this drawing demonstrates. Given the importance of this early commission it is not surprising that Guercino made a large number of preparatory studies, some of which have survived. The artist’s first step in the preparation of The Presentation in the Temple, as for the other scenes, seems to have been to make rapid sketches in pen and ink for the whole composition. These preliminary studies, ‘primi pensieri’, were followed by pen or chalk studies for individual figures. Guercino focused on, and drew, every detail, often preferring to use red chalk.
A preparatory drawing such as this gives an insight into Guercino's sequence of studies as he worked up to the final composition. The red chalk medium is still strong and vibrant, which overall contributes to a powerful image. The NGI currently houses two red chalk drawings by Guercino, including a depiction of The Virgin and Child (for the Madonna del Carmine Presenting a Scapular to a Carmelite, in Cento's Pinacoteca Civica, c.1615), (NGI.2603).
ProvenanceSale, Sotheby's London, 1 December 1983, lot 113; European private collector and by inheritance to previous owner; purchased, Sotheby's London, Old Master & British Works on Paper, 5 July 2017, lot 41
Exhibition HistoryIl Guercino, Disegni, Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna, 1992, p.92, no. 54 (entry by D. Mahon), reproduced, fig. 54