Guercino and his pupils. From "heads of character" to portraits

The Collezioni Comunali d'Arte in Bologna will host an exhibition dedicated to the painter Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, and his pupils from 8 October to 26 November 2023.

The exhibition focuses on the transition from the so-called "heads of character" to the actual portrait. Guercino (Cento, 1591 - Bologna, 1666) created "heads of character".

So are the characters in the Trinity and Lucretia, autograph works in the exhibition. The faces of Salome and St. John in the St. John the Baptist in Prison Tempted by Salome, a 17th-century copy on display in the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte, also belong to this genre.

The works by Guercino's pupils, brothers Cesare and Benedetto Gennari, belong instead to the portrait genre. Compared to the "heads of character", these Baroque portraits are no longer types, but specific subjects, thanks to the details of clothing and hairstyles and their placement in a precise time space.

The exhibition is part of the programme of events organised on the occasion of the reopening to the public, after the earthquake of 2012, of the Pinacoteca Civica di Cento and the re-installation of Guercino's works, and as part of the Guercino itineraries promoted by the Municipality of Bologna, the Metropolitan City of Bologna, the Municipality of Cento and the Emilia-Romagna Region.