拍品專文
The recto and the verso are related to a picture commissioned by the Compagnia del Santissimo Nome di Dio in Cento (fig. 1) Salerno, op. cit., no. 127, illustrated.
The picture was probably started in 1628, before Guercino began his Libro dei Conti. The date of its entry in the Libri dei Conti is 24 April 1630, when payment for it reached Guercino: 'Dalli Fratelli della compagnia del santissimo Nome di Dio, si è ricevuti altri denari per il compimento del quadro fatto il loro Oratorio = 55 avendo già ricevuti altri denaria per il compimento di scudi 150', Salerno, op. cit., p. 221. The altarpiece is later mentioned in the Libro dei Conti on 5 September 1653 when it was brought back to Guercino's studio to be retouched.
The picture was one of Guercino's most admired compositions, especially in the 18th Century: it was engraved by Strange and described by Goethe and Algarotti. The French state confiscated it in 1796 and placed it in the Musée Central des Arts in Paris. The altarpiece was returned in 1816 and later transferred to the Pinacoteca Civica in Cento.
Three other drawings related to the composition are known: a half-length study for Christ and the Virgin, in the Institut Néerlandais in Paris (Byam-Shaw, op. cit., no. 350, pl. 399), a red chalk drawing for Christ's drapery in the Fachsenfeld collection in the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, (C. Thiem, Unpublished chalk drawings by Guercino in the Collection of Schloss Fachsenfeld, Master Drawings, 1979, XVII, p. 415, no. 7, pl. 16) and a study for the Virgin in the Museo Civico in Pavia. Both the recto and the verso of the Ferretti drawing differ in composition from the picture, in which the Virgin is looking to Christ, attempting to touch His stigmata instead of kissing His hand.
An inscription 'Guercino' by the same hand as the one on the present drawing is found on a sheet sold at Christie's, 11 April 1978, lot 49, illustrated. Similar pencil inscriptions are on drawings presented to the British Museum by Eric Rose in the early 19th Century, N. Turner and C. Plazzotta, Drawings by Guercino from British Collections, exhib. cat., British Museum, London, 1991, p. 246.
The picture was probably started in 1628, before Guercino began his Libro dei Conti. The date of its entry in the Libri dei Conti is 24 April 1630, when payment for it reached Guercino: 'Dalli Fratelli della compagnia del santissimo Nome di Dio, si è ricevuti altri denari per il compimento del quadro fatto il loro Oratorio = 55 avendo già ricevuti altri denaria per il compimento di scudi 150', Salerno, op. cit., p. 221. The altarpiece is later mentioned in the Libro dei Conti on 5 September 1653 when it was brought back to Guercino's studio to be retouched.
The picture was one of Guercino's most admired compositions, especially in the 18th Century: it was engraved by Strange and described by Goethe and Algarotti. The French state confiscated it in 1796 and placed it in the Musée Central des Arts in Paris. The altarpiece was returned in 1816 and later transferred to the Pinacoteca Civica in Cento.
Three other drawings related to the composition are known: a half-length study for Christ and the Virgin, in the Institut Néerlandais in Paris (Byam-Shaw, op. cit., no. 350, pl. 399), a red chalk drawing for Christ's drapery in the Fachsenfeld collection in the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, (C. Thiem, Unpublished chalk drawings by Guercino in the Collection of Schloss Fachsenfeld, Master Drawings, 1979, XVII, p. 415, no. 7, pl. 16) and a study for the Virgin in the Museo Civico in Pavia. Both the recto and the verso of the Ferretti drawing differ in composition from the picture, in which the Virgin is looking to Christ, attempting to touch His stigmata instead of kissing His hand.
An inscription 'Guercino' by the same hand as the one on the present drawing is found on a sheet sold at Christie's, 11 April 1978, lot 49, illustrated. Similar pencil inscriptions are on drawings presented to the British Museum by Eric Rose in the early 19th Century, N. Turner and C. Plazzotta, Drawings by Guercino from British Collections, exhib. cat., British Museum, London, 1991, p. 246.