Getty Museum
Caricature of Two Men Seen in Profile
Creator
Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)Italian Artist · 1591–1666
All works by this person →Giovanni Francesco Barberi was nicknamed Guercino because he was *guercio,*or cross-eyed. Born in poverty in Cento, near Ferrara, he was largely self-taught, though he also served an apprenticeship. The glowing colorism and emotion of Lodovico Carracci's *Holy Family with Saint Francis* in Bologna influenced him profoundly, and Lodovico himself encouraged the young man. From 1614 to 1621, the year
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1635
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, brush with light brown wash
- Culture
- Italian
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
Guercino drew caricatures for his own amusement and that of his friends. He filtered his acute observations of the people and events of everyday life through his sharp perception of the comic, a precedent established by his Bolognese predecessors the Carracci, and before them, Leonardo Da Vinci. Working quickly, Guercino caricatured two middle-aged men gazing intently to the left. He depicted their faces in the most detail, yet even here he used only a few, well-placed lines to suggest a jawline or a beard. He then delicately touched essential areas with luminous wash in varied intensities. In particular, the face of the man at far left shows Guercino's subtle accuracy with wash, suggesting the effects of sunlight on his skin. The men's clothing is treated even more subtly: a hasty criss-cross of tangled lines describe the arms of the man at the left, folded in his baggy sleeves.
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