Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino
1623
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 14.7 x 11.4 cm (5 13/16 x 4 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of W.G. Russell Allen
Accession Number
1941.8.7
Art Historical Context
This engraving by Ottaviooni, dated 1623, presents a portrait of the celebrated Italian painter Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino. Created when both artists were active in Rome, the small-scale print—trimmed to just 14.7 by 11.4 centimeters—captures the essence of artistic exchange in early seventeenth-century Italy. Leoni, a Roman printmaker renowned for his sensitive depictions of contemporaries, here turns his attention to one of the leading figures of the emerging Baroque style. Engraving was a vital medium at the time, prized for its ability to reproduce fine details and pro...
About the Artist
Ottavio Leoni
Ottavio Leoni (c. 1578–1630) was a Roman portraitist whose incisive chalk drawings captured the faces of some of the most celebrated figures of his age. Born in Rome, Leoni trained in the city's vibrant artistic environment during the era of the Counter-Reformation, developing a speciality in portraiture at a time when likenesses of cardinals, poets, and nobles were in high demand. He became close...