(Fossombrone 1589–1657 Pesaro)
The Madonna adoring the Christ Child with Saint Joseph and Saint Anne,
oil on canvas, 144 x 216 cm, framed

Provenance:
Convento dei Disciplinati, Serra San Quirico;
Private Collection, Fabriano;
European private collection

Exhibited:
Meraviglie del Barocco nelle Marche (San Severino Marche 24 July - 12. December 2010), no. 29

Literature:
G. Donnini in Meraviglie del Barocco nelle Marche. 1. San Severino e l’Alto Maceratese, exhibition catalogue edited by V. Sgarbi, S. Papetti, Cinisello Balsamo, Milan, 2010, p. 190, cat. n° 29

The present canvas was executed for the Convento dei Disciplinati in Serra San Quirico and according to Giampiero Donnini should be dated to around 1615, when Guerrieri was active in Serra San Quirico and Sassoferrato, where he executed in 1614 the two paintings with Miracles of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (Sassoferrato, church of Santa Maria di Ponte del Piano). At this time the painter had developed a personal reinterpretation of Caravaggio’s naturalism, whose works he would have seen during sojourns in Rome in 1606 and 1612. Influenced in particular by the works of Antiveduto Grammatica, the present painting presents a sober and simple composition dominated by monumental figures, strongly lit against a dark background. It can be compared closely with the Adoration of the Sheperds in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj in Rome, recently given to Grammatica (see G. Papi, Antiveduto Grammatica, Soncino 1995, p. 151). Moreover, the present work displays an intimate and domestic realism of gestures and details, typical of Guerrieri, as is the reduced palette of colors.

Guerrieri was a native of Fossombrone, where he spent much of his career. Although clearly under the influence of Caravaggio, the artist later seems to have had an awareness of the work of Orazio Gentileschi as well. During Guerrieri’s second visit to Rome, between 1615 and 1618, he worked for Marcantonio Borghese on the decoration of the newly built Palazzo Borghese on the Campo Marzo. Here he created a series of decorative frescoes and various overdoor paintings. After returning to the Marches, Guerrieri worked mainly on religious commissions. His last known work was a signed Saint Victor of 1654 (Palazzo Ducale, Urbino).