Guercino: Storytelling in Baroque Italy

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (1591–1666), called Guercino, helped transform Italian art in the 17th century. His name is synonymous with the full-blown baroque style, notable for dramatic gesture, dynamic composition, and strong emotion. His paintings and drawings have been widely celebrated for their seemingly effortless execution and vivid color. This exhibition seeks to expand our understanding of his art by examining his talents as a virtuoso of narrative. 

The artist produced multiple versions of numerous subjects; some he returned to several times throughout his life, rethinking each new iteration. The exhibition will focus on 11 subjects that he illustrated, including four stories from the Hebrew Bible and five stories from the Christian New Testament. It will also include images based on ancient history as well as Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Drawings and paintings for each of these subjects will be exhibited along with commentary as to how they demonstrate his understanding of the stories he represented. Central to the concept of the show is the key role that drawings played in developing the artist’s narrative strategies, countering a common perception that all of his drawings were preparatory compositional exercises leading to finished paintings. 

Guercino: Storytelling in Baroque Italy is curated by Judith W. Mann, senior curator of European art to 1800, and Clare Kobasa, associate curator of prints, drawings, and photographs.