PAOLO ANTONIO BARBIERI
\n(Cento 1603-1649)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em>Portrait of Guercino and his mother with a Lagotto <\/em><\/p>\n Oil on canvas This inedited canvas represents a curious glance in the life of the famous painter from Cento Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Guercino who is depicted while is embracing with the right hand a dog seated at the center of the composition, pointed out by Guercino\u2019s himself. An older woman also takes part of the scene is recognizable as Elena Gisellini, mother of Guercino. She is portrayed with a large key pending from the waist, a detail which confer her the status of \u201cmaster of the house\u201d and many sources describes the great affection felt by Giovanni Francesco for his mom.<\/p>\n An interesting detail can be found in the portrait of Guercino, where is clearly visible the serious deformity which affected his right eye, and the reason for his nickname. This imperfection was never emphasized in other portraits, as appears here. Reasonably, Guercino wasn\u2019t keen of being portrayed with his real physical condition, but in this painting that inhibition seems to disappear. This aspect, added to the joyful and confident atmosphere characterizing the work, suggest us to find its author within the Guercino\u2019s inner circle and the canvas was exclusively meant to decorate his private house.<\/p>\n The attention for details is well reflected on the delicacy of the lace decorating Guercino\u2019s dress, which suggest us to attribute this painting to the master\u2019s younger brother, Paolo Antonio Barbieri. He was an assistant in the workshop, specialized in \u201cStill Lives\u201d, as well as the bookkeeper of the family business: he started and looked after the so-called \u201cLibro dei Conti\u201d, the account book he meticulously adjourned until his death, in 1649.<\/p>\n By the way the real protagonist of canvas is not Guercino, but the dog he\u2019s indicating with his finger, precisely a Lagotto, an ancient breed of water retriever dog, originally from Romagna. The animal is embellished by a particular collar, decorated with lilies and the emblem of the Farnese family, from Parma. Considering that as a not casual reference, the dog depicted was probably a gift for Guercino from the Dukes of Parma to thank him for the only commission they gave him: the frescos of the dome in the Piacenza cathedral. This detail allows us to date this painting around 1627.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PAOLO ANTONIO BARBIERI
\n98 x 142 cm<\/p>\n
\n(Cento 1603-1649)\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n