Francesco Guarino
(1611 - 1654) |
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Secular Narratives Art Work
| Name: |
Francesco Guarino |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Sant'Agata Irpina, Italy |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1611 |
| Death: |
1654 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Secular Narratives |
| Medium: |
Oil on canvas |
| Method: |
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| Style: |
Italian Baroque |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| One of the more talented Neapolitan figures active in the circle of Stanzione, Guarino has been restored to prominence thanks to the efforts of modern scholars. Recently, major pictures formerly given to Stanzione have been re-attributed to Guarino, thereby establishing him as one of the most gifted painters of his day. Guarino first trained with his father, the painter Giovanni Tommaso (d. 1637), and followed him to Naples in 1623. Early sources also call Guarino a pupil of Stanzione, which is supported by the similarity between Stanzione's Caravaggesque paintings and Guarino's early work. In the 1630s Guarino was in his home district working for the Orsini family of Gravina and Solofra. He remained there for most of his life, occasionally working in Naples. Pictures for the Collegiata of Solofra, Christ in the Garden, Liberation of Peter, and others, done between 1630 and 1635, are his earliest surviving important paintings. Clearly dependent on Ribera,* Stanzione, and the Roman Caravaggisti, the paintings also demonstrate his interest in sharply defined forms and clear, direct narrative. Two paintings of the Martyrdom of St. Agatha were executed for the Parish Church of S. Agata, Irpina, in the mid-1630s, while an Immaculate Conception for the Congrega dei Bianchi, Solofra, dates from 1637. Here his utilization of atmosphere to dissolve form and his growing interest in a restrained yet powerful mystical state are evident. Responding to van Dyck, and Rubens as well as Cavallino, Guarino painted gently lyrical paintings such as his Annunciation (dated 1642, Solofra, Collegiata di San Michele Archangelo). His Madonna of the Rosary (dated 1644 and repainted in 1649, Solofra, San Domenico) is considered one of his most refined efforts and is strongly influenced by Stanzione's Madonna of the Rosary in the Museo Nazionale, Naples. Guarino's Madonna del Suffragio (Gravina di Puglia, Chiesa del Purgatorio) indicates his study of Poussin, Domenichino, and Francesco Cozza. One of the most famous Neapolitan paintings of the period, St. Agatha (Naples, Museo Nazionali di Capodimonte), formerly ascribed to Stanzione, is now considered one of Guarino's masterpieces. In this haunting portrayal of the half-length St. Agatha, his gifts reach their highest level. Evoking human pain transcended by a profound spirituality, St. Agatha is one of the most memorable paintings of the seventeenth century. It belongs in type with a small group of half-lengths including Judith (Salerno, Museo Diocesano) and St. Lucia (Consenza, Cassa di Risparmio), now given to Guarino. All portray a powerful streak of sensuality balanced by a strangely austere and brooding melancholy. |
Samples of Work
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