Incredulity of Saint Thomas
17th century
16.5 cm x 23.6 cm (6 1/2 in. x 9 5/16 in.)
Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)
(Cento, Italy, 1591 - 1666, Bologna, Italy)
Primary
Object Type:
drawing
Artist Nationality:
Europe, Italian
Medium and Support:
Pen and iron gall ink with brush and gray wash and pale blue wash (later additio
Credit Line:
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Suida-Manning Collection, 2017
Accession Number:
2017.1167
This is a study for the composition of a painting executed for Bartolomeo Fabri of Cento and today in the National Gallery, London. Characteristic of Guercino’s early draftsmanship are its extraordinary economy in the description of form and rhythm in the movement of line. However preliminary, the drawing not only establishes the basic design -- the position and behavior of the protagonists -- but already suggests the pictorial properties -- the saturated color and intense light -- of the finished work. It is the only drawing known to relate to the paint-ing