Guercino in Turin: an itinerary among the works

In the strutting, superb Turin, in the sunny splendor of the Savoy square next to the Royal Palace, within the cozy halls of Palazzo Chiablese, stands a luminous and splendid exhibition, perhaps unexpected but for that reason surprising and magnificent, that squares to the excited viewer a series of vivid and absolute masterpieces by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino (Cento 1591 - Bologna 1666), who stands-at the center of the 17th century-as a meeting point in the grand theater that saw on the European stage the leading personalities of Rubens, Rembrandt and Diego Velasquez. It was the latter, in 1629, who ran the itinerary of his first trip to Italy to pay direct homage to the already famous and revered master of Cento in his small town.

Undoubtedly certain critical and social events this year have placed in a light of great merit the painter who overcame all creative and luministic obstacles after the deaths, within the first decade of the seventeenth century, of Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio. Guercino prince, then, and such he remains in the visitors of the exhibition, who are increasingly inflamed in the flow of the rooms by the various and vibrant canvases narrating history and prodigies.

The exhibition takes place thanks to the enhancement of the heritage of the Royal Museums, accompanied by the Ecclesiastical Authority, where Guercino’s works have been cared for and restored to the highest attention. It is only intended here to mention the centuries-long continuous enrichment in the city of the paintings of the centesan, which has occurred through historical personalities of rank and continuous purchases. Thus now Turin can boast of a relevant role in the field of studies and merits concerning the European seventeenth century.

In the call, however, the singular title of the Exhibition stands out: Guercino. The Painter’s Craft, and we must give credit to this decisive determination of the organizers and curators, which brings a painter to life “from within” and leads the visitor to participate in the conjectures, choices and acts that an artist must make when faced with doing. First of all by nurturing himself, and then by advancing each time in the creative process, where always differently the many elements of culture and visual ability must be gathered, selected and placed “in unum” in the work to be delivered. And it is good to see that Guercino makes the first delivery to himself, to his complacency, then transmitting it intact to the patrons but in fact to all generations: he, so fast in the work “who drafted and finished together.”

Special praise goes to the curators, Annamaria Bava and Gelsomina Spione, who have structured the exhibition beautifully and support it with their essays of excellent prose. There are ten sections and their rhythm concatenates the whole exhibition, increasing interest. We have thus composed a tour itinerary, choosing for each section one or more representative works.

I. How a painter is formed: comparison with the masters

II. Representing reality: Guercino and the landscape

III. From pupil to master: the Academy of the Nude

IV. The painter’s achievement: travel, relationships, commissions

V. In the artist’s workshop: nature and posed objects

VI. The creative process: invention, repurposing of models, copies

VII. The price of works and the market

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VIII. The world around the painter: science vs. magic.

IX. The grand theater of painting

X. A successful theme: Sibyls and Femmes Fortes

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