(Cento 1591-1666 Bologna) A young boy with a rooster near a stone wall, pen and brown ink, on laid paper, laid down on later paper support, numbered "46" at the lower right corner, 16,5 x 20,7 cm, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Collection Pierre Crozat (1665-1740), Paris (Lugt 3612), numbered "46".

With a certificate by Prof. Nicholas Turner, January 30, 2014.

Literature: N. Turner, C. Plazzotta, Drawings by Guercino from British Collections, Exh. Cat. British Museum, London 1991, p. 266, App. Nr. 52; E. Negro, N. Roio, L'eredita del Guercino, Modena 2008, p. 104; P. Bagni, Il Guercino e i suoi incisori, Rome 1988, pp. 126-8; D. Mahon, N. Turner, The Drawings of Guercino in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen at Windsor Castle, Cambridge 1989, p. 170-72, Cat. No. 588-89; A. Aberghini, Guercino, la collezione di stampe, p. 70, Nr. 142; D. Mahon, Il Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, 1591-1666). Catalogo critico dei disegni, Exh. Cat. Bologna, 1969, p. 10.

Due to stylistic features and due to the technical execution of the drawing Prof. Nicholas Turner suggests a dating around 1650. Modelling and gradation of light and dark areas through hatchings point to other studies by Guercino of this time, such as the sketch "Three puttos in clouds" in the British Museum, London (Inv. Pp, 4.57) which is connected with the altar painting „The annunciation“ of 1648 in the Pinacoteca in Forli. (comp. Turner/ Plazzotta 1991, p. 266, App. No. 52). Moreover the drawing is near to a recently dicovered study for the figure of a „Kneeling (Christ?child) with abird“ from a private collection which may have served as a modello for the first sheet of a series comprising eleven engravings by Domenico Maria Bonaveri (1653-after 1719) after drawings by Guercino. (comp. Negro/ Roio 2008, p. 104; Bagni 1988, pp. 126-8; Mahon/ Turner 1989, pp. 170-72, Cat. Nos. 588-89).
The engraving were commissioned after Guercino’s death by the artist’s nephew Benedetto Gennari (1633-1715) and may follow drawings by Guercino which he made around 1650 during his Bolognese period between 1642-1666. The prints from Bonveri’s series show half figures in smaller formats which corresponds to the present drawing. However, it remains an open question whether it was used for Gennari’s series of engravings. A copy of the sheet in reverse which is attributed to the "falsario di Guercino“ points at least to the existence of an engraving which may have been commissioned by Bonaveri in a small edition. (comp. Aberghini 1991, p. 70, No. 142). Like the present study the majority of the studies which Bonaveri used as models for his engravings are in reverse and in pen and brown ink. The numbering „46“ points to the provenance of the drawing, which may have originally been owned by Pierre Crozat the French banker and collector (1661-1740). Such numbering can be found in the same handwriting and the same ink on several sheets from the Crozat collection which were sold at an auction in Paris in 1741. Crozat owned more than 350 drawings by Guercino, including some which derived from the collection of Roger de Piles; others came from Guercino’s biographer Conte Carlo Cesare Malvasia (1616-1693), whose collection merged into the property of the Boschi family in Bologna. The Boschi family sold the complete drawings collection to Crozat who was on an acquisition tour in Bologna in 1714 (comp. Mahon 1969, p. 10).