Gian Francesco Barbieri, known as Il Guercino, was born in Cento, a small town between Ferrara and Bologna in the Emilia region of Italy. He was educated in his home town but later travelled to Venice and Mantua and found inspiration in the poetic ambience of Ferrara, with its strong contrasts between light and shade and its dramatic tension.
From 1617 to 1618 he worked in the service of the Ludovisi family in Bologna, and then moved to Rome when Alessandro Ludovisi became Pope Gregory XV in 1621. There, he produced a number of works considered as essential in the subsequent evolution of the Baroque style (Casino dell'Aurora, Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi). At the same time Monsignor Aguchi, Secretary to the Pope, pressured him to work in a highly classical style, He can thus be seen as a transitional artist in the onset of new forms of painting in the 17th century. On the death of Gregory XV he returned to Cento, where his style grew increasingly severe, showing more and more complacency in composition and colour but retaining its subtlety and refinement. When Guido Reni died in 1642, Barbieri moved to Bologna, where he became an influential member of the Bolognese school. He died there in 1666.
His soubriquet derives from the fact that he was cross-eyed (guercio in Italian).
Gian Francesco Barbieri, known as Il Guercino, was born in Cento, a small town between Ferrara and Bologna in the Emilia region of Italy. He was educated in his home town but later travelled to Venice and Mantua and found inspiration in the poetic ambience of Ferrara, with its strong contrasts between light and shade and its dramatic tension.
From 1617 to 1618 he worked in the service of the Ludovisi family in Bologna, and then moved to Rome when Alessandro Ludovisi became Pope Gregory XV in 1621. There, he produced a number of works considered as essential in the subsequent evolution of the Baroque style (Casino dell'Aurora, Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi). At the same time Monsignor Aguchi, Secretary to the Pope, pressured him to work in a highly classical style, He can thus be seen as a transitional artist in the onset of new forms of painting in the 17th century. On the death of Gregory XV he returned to Cento, where his style grew increasingly severe, showing more and more complacency in composition and colour but retaining its subtlety and refinement. When Guido Reni died in 1642, Barbieri moved to Bologna, where he became an influential member of the Bolognese school. He died there in 1666.
His soubriquet derives from the fact that he was cross-eyed (guercio in Italian).