Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino (Cento 1591 - 1666 Bologna), Saint Peter Penitent

oil on canvas. 40 3/4 by 30 in.; 103.5 by 76 cm. Estuimate 400,000—600,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Possibly commissioned by Francesco Guiduzzi, Venice, 1648;
With Colnaghi, London, 1976;
With Walpole Gallery, London;
There acquired by the present owner.

EXHIBITED: London, Colnaghi, Italian Paintings 1550-1780, 26 May - 2 July 1976, n.p., no. 16, reproduced pl. XVI;
Milan, Palazzo Reale, Guercino. Poesia e Sentimento Nella Pittura del '600, 27 September 2003 - 18 January 2004, no. 49.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Possibly C.C. Malvasia, Felsina Pittrice, vol. II, Bologna 1844 (first published 1678), p. 269;
Possibly B. Ghelfi (ed.), Il libro dei conti del Guercino, Bologna 1997, p. 149, no. 429;
M. Pulini, in Guercino. Poesia e Sentimento Nella Pittura del '600, Milan 2003, pp. 188-9, no. 49, reproduced.

CATALOGUE NOTE: Dated by David M. Stone to around 1648, this St. Peter may be synonymous with an entry in Guercino's account books from that year, in which the artist records receiving payment for a half-length St Peter on 4th April:

Dal Sig.re Francesco Guiduzzi per un gentiluomo Venetiano, si è riceuto ducat.ni 60. per la mezza figura del San Pietro Apostolo fano Scudi 75-

However, as pointed out in the catalogue of the recent exhibition at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, Massimo Pulini has proposed an alternative identification of the work with an entry from 11 October 1650 for "... la Mezzà Figura del S: Pietro piangente è questi fano ducatoni no: 59- L 1- che sono poi L 296- che fano Scudi 74".¹ Prior to the present work's reappearance, however, another painting, also depicting St Peter crying and now in the Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna, was considered by Sir Denis Mahon and others to be synonymous with this latter, which was commissioned from the artist by a certain 'Aurelio Zanelletti'.² Salerno argues that the Bologna painting must be that mentioned in Guercino's account book in 1650, and also mentioned by Malvasia in his 1678 Felsina Pittrice...,³ on account of there being no other extant painting by Guercino of a similar date matching the description, but the resurfacing of the present version, also depicting St. Peter half length ('Mezzà Figura') and crying ('piangente'), must cast some doubt over this assertion. Interestingly, the handkerchief that St. Peter uses to wipe away his tears is the same as held by Hagar in Guercino's depiction of her now in the collection of Sir Denis Mahon in London, the striped border and internal decoration being identical.⁴ The Hagar, as recorded in Guercino's account book, was paid for on 17 March 1653, and the handkerchief must thus have been one of many studio props used during the late 1640s and early 1650s.

Stylistically the present work is entirely consistent with other works by Guercino from the late 1640s and early 1650s. The emphasis on textures, the purity of colour, and the softness of St. Peter's hair and beard, which recalls that of various other old men from around this time such as the figure of Lot in Dresden, Gemäldegalerie from 1650,⁵ is particularly typical of Guercino's work at this date. Pulini argues that the model is the same as one used throughout the 1650s, which can be seen in several drawings, in particular the Study of a Bearded Old Man sold London, Christie's, 13 December 1984, lot 42. In another drawing both the pose and facial type of an old man, also holding a handkerchief, are remarkably similar to those of the present work, although in reverse (see fig. 1).⁶

1. See B. Ghelfi (ed.), Il libro dei conti del Guercino, Bologna 1997, p. 149, no. 429.
2. See L. Salerno, I Dipinti del Guercino, Rome 1988, p. 339, no. 269, reproduced.
3. See C.C. Malvasia, Felsina Pittrice, vol. II, Bologna 1844 (first published 1678), p. 269. Malvasia also records another St Peter crying, from 1639 "Un S. Pietro piangente all'Eminentissimo Rocci" (p. 264) which must be synonymous with the "...San Pietro fatto all Em.mo Sig.r Card.le Rocci Legato di ferrara, fano Schudi 55" recorded in Guercino's account book (Ghelfi, p. 96, no. 193), paid for on 4 April 1639. 4. Salerno, op. cit., p. 366-7, no. 299, reproduced.
5. Ibid., p. 345, no. 275, reproduced.
6. Sold London, Sotheby's, 22 April 1998, lot 38.

Sotheby's. Important Old Master Paintings, Including European Works of Art. 29 Jan 09. New York www.sothebys.com photo courtesy Sotheby's