Guercino – Virtuous Baroque Painter
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More than 350 authentic paintings that include the depiction of a great variety subjects, from mythological to historical to religious, have been identified to date as his. Powerful religious and political figures were impressed with his masterful artistic skills. But even more so, these luminaries were attracted to his innovative ability to express religious ideas and implant political meanings into his work that accorded with their ideals. His virtuosity allowed him to paint for the likes of high-ranking men such as popes, bishops and papal legates (cardinals), who actively advanced his career and status and allowed him great success. Praised by Ludovico Carracci as “a prodigy of nature” was Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, who is better known as (Il) Guercino. Guercinos Samson Captured by the Philistines, 1619, exemplifies the nature of art during the Baroque period because of its ability to engage the viewer both physically and emotionally.
One of Italian arts great draftsmen, a largely self-taught artist, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri was born in the town of Cento in Emilia-Romagna (Italy) in 1591. He was known by his nickname, Il Guercino (the Squinter), because of a childhood accident that made him cross-eyed. As a painter Guercino worked in different styles during his long and successful career. Earlier in his career, he combined several disparate influences of Carravaggio, the Carracci who so expertly accomplished the use of chiaroscuro and great 16th-century Venetian masters like Titian, who mastered the use of foreshortening and Tintoretto, whose dramatic use of perspective space and special lighting effects, to create works that are among some of the masterpieces of the Baroque period. Cento is a town located directly in between Bologna and Ferrara, both of which at the time were becoming flourishing local hubs for the humanities. Local artists in Cento helped lay a basic groundwork for Guercino to build his skills upon. It was the work of Ludovico Carracci that was crucial to the formation of Guercinos early artistic ideas and he greatly admired Carraccis work. In the year of his birth Carracci sent his altarpiece the “Virgin and Child with Saints Joseph and Francis to a church in Cento. Guercino later referred to this work as his “artistic mother” and then sought out Ludovico in Bologna in 1615. Although, there was no formal record of Guercinos apprenticeship, he was clearly familiar with the masters paintings and drawings. Ludovico praised Guercino in a letter to an agent in 1617 as “a great draughtsman and a felicitous colorist: hes a freak of nature and a miracle who astonishes all who see his work. Ill say nothing more: hell make the finest painters look like fools; youll see when you return.”
It is believed that somewhere between 1617 and 1618, while in Bologna, the papal legate of Ferrara, Cardinal Jacopo Serra, caught wind about Guercino, invited him to Ferrara, and began to commission him for several different works of art. Guercino most likely knew that Cardinal Serra had been Peter Paul Rubens most eloquent advocate in Rome, and helped Rubens to obtain the commission to paint the high altar of the Chiesa Nuova (a church in Rome that is rather important to this time period). Cardinal Serra was extremely enthused and pleased with several of Guercinos commissioned works and in 1620 made him a Knight of the Papal Order of the Golden Spur – a very high honor. Also known as the Order of the Golden Militia,” it is a papal order of chivalry conferred upon those who have rendered distinguished service in propagating the Catholic faith, or who have contributed to the glory of the Church, either by feat of arms, by writings, or by other illustrious acts. With that Knight-ship, he joined an elite status that at the time included notable recipients such as Raphael, Titian, and Julius Casesar. Under Cardinal Serras patronage Guercino produced the works of art that made him a famous painter (even though at the time he was still very young) one of which was Samson Captured by the Philistines.
Guercino lived all his life under papal rule. He began his artistic career during the reign of Pope Paul V (Camillo Borghese, 1605-21), who advocated a vigorous anti-Protestant policy. Like his predecessors, Paul V longed for a quick Catholic victory that would dismiss the Protestants once and for all and restore Catholic hegemony in Western Europe. In Daniel M. Ungers book Guercinos Paintings and His Patrons Politics in Early Modern Italy, it is stated: “In modern scholarship it is always the patron who is regarded as the dominant factor in the production of a work of art, guiding the artist and his work. The artist is perceived as having played the relatively minor role of executing what has been commissioned; the reasons for the work, the ideas behind it, and its goal–all stem from the desires and aspirations of the patron. Even the stylistic component is seen as part of the broad political manipulation.” However, in the instance of Samson Captured by the Philistines, Guercino was able to explore disparate styles that helped him express his independence and declare his own originality while still implanting the religious and political ideas of Cardinal Jacopo Serra into the art. The historical context for this piece arose during the Catholic Counter Reformation. In this time Catholic Church attempted to bring back followers lost during the Protestant Reformation. Furthermore, as Papal governor, Serra was responsible for dealing with the Hebrews that lived in Ferrara. The Hebrews enjoyed relative freedom under the previous dukes, but the Papal Legation was much more strict. “According to the Constitution of Clement VIII of 1598, the Hebrews, compelled to register with the Vice Legate and Inquisitor of the city, had to wear yellow badges, so they could be identifiably distinguished from Christians. The Papal Legation also initiated the confiscation and sale of land and goods acquired by Jews under the Estense dukes, prohibited usury, censored Hebrew books such as the Talmud, and closed many synagogues.” Despite this repression, the only mission of the Catholic Church was to convert and baptize the Jews. My belief is that the idea behind the painting was to express the power of the Catholic Church over the Hebrews (and/or Protestants). The Philistines represent the Catholic Church and Samson represents the Hebrews (and/or Protestants), where the Philistines greatly outnumber Samson.
In 1619, Guercino painted Samson Captured by the Philistines, a majestic oil painting done on canvas (specifically 75 1/4 x 93 1/4 in. or 191.1 x 236.9 cm). Here is a story of real gore, violence and deceit; love used for the