(Cento 1591-1666 Bologna)
Portrait of a bearded man at a table, looking at a female portrait drawing, pen and brown ink, on laid paper, 14,4 x 20,3 cm, in der oberen rechten Ecke numbered "15" at upper right corner, browned, stained, mounted, framed, (Sch)

With a certificate of Dr. Nicholas Turner of 15th December 2017.

The present drawing is carefully executed and shows a young man, who is contemplating the portrait of his mistress. He is holding the portrait drawing in his right hand, the left one is disappearing under his hat and slightly lifting the brim of the hat. The detailed execution and the popular subject of the drawing may point to its function as a draft for an engraving. The horizontal format of the drawing shows similar dimensions with comparable engravings after drawings by Guercino in the „Handbook for Beginners in the Art of Drawing“ (Bartsch 1803-21, IXI, p. 30, Cat. 118 ff; compare Mahon and Turner 1989, Cat. 11) which were engraved by Oliviero Gatti (c. 1596- 1626) in 1619.

On the basis of stylistic criteria and due to its careful execution Nicolas Turner dates the drawing to around 1620. He mentions comparable drawings from this period: the study of a "Girl in a landscape looking at a drawing" (Turner and Plazzotta, 1991, Cat. 192, Fig.) in a private collection, the study of a "Woman, extracting a young girl’s tooth“ in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (Mahon and Ekserdjan, No. XVI, Fig.; Turner and Plazzotta, 1991, Cat. 184, Fig.), and "Beggar with two Children“ in the Musée du Louvre in Paris (Loisel, 2013, Cat. 571.)

The number 15 in the upper right corner points to the drawing’s execution in Guercino’s workshop before the middle of the 17th century. An identical numbering can be found on other drawings by Guercino, as for example „Landscape with a winding road“ in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle (Windsor No. 2762; Mahon and Turner, 1989, Cat. 247, Fig.). The number 12 (or perhaps 72) which appears on the landscape in Windsor castle, which is also inscribed in the upper right corner, may indicate, that both drawings once belonged to the same group. The dating 1635 on the reverse of the Windsor drawing which may derive from Guercino’s brother Paolo Antonio Barbieri, who was responsible for the bookkeeping in Guercino’s workshop, is perhaps of even greater interest. The reverse of the Windsor sheet is inscribed: "Sono in tutte Carte numer 32/ che fanno 32 disegni/ Opera del Sig. r Gio: Francesco Barbieri/ da Cento". The number 15 in the upper right corner of the present drawing may also derive from Guercino’s brother Paolo Antonio.

We are grateful to Dr. Nicholas Turner for the scientific support.

Literature:
D. Mahon, N. Turner, The Drawings of Guercino in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, Cambridge 1989, Cat. 11, 247; N. Turner, C. Plazzotta, Drawings by Guercino from British Collections, Exh. Cat. British Museum, London 1991, Cat. 184, 192; C. Loisel, Inventaire général des dessins italiens - Dessins bolonais du XVIIe siècle, Paris 2013, Cat. 571.