Giovanni Francesco Barbieri detto il Guercino (1591-1666), Circle of - Mater Dolorosa - Ecce Homo

Important pair of devotional pendant paintings depicting the Mater Dolorosa and the Ecce Homo, dating to the end of the 17th century.

The two works are oil on canvas and depict respectively:

Mater Dolorosa, with the Virgin’s face turned upward and hands joined in a gesture of sorrow and prayer;
Ecce Homo, depicting Christ crowned with thorns, with the red cloak and the instruments of the Passion.

The two paintings share a very similar composition, with half-length figures emerging from a dark background, a palette characterized by browns, reds and warm flesh tones, and a strong devotional impulse typical of 17th-century Italian painting.

Attribution

On the back of each painting there are handwritten provenance/attribution labels.

For the Mater Dolorosa the label reads:

“Mater Dolorosa
end 1600
Circolo del Guercino
restaurato nel 1992”

For the pendant depicting the Ecce Homo the label reads:

“Ecce Homo
end 1600
circolo del Guercino
restaurato nel 1992”

The indication “Circolo del Guercino” is faithfully reported based on the documentation present on the reverse of the works.

Dimensions
Mater Dolorosa: about 43 × 33 cm
Ecce Homo: about 43 × 33 cm

The works are characterized by a particular oval shape and are conceived as a pendant pair, intended to be presented together.

Condition

The canvases have been rebacked and restored in 1992, by my family
Provenance: private collection, purchased in Rome in the 1950s

They show the usual signs of time and conservation history, with craquelure and superficial alterations visible in the photographs. The works are offered in their current state, with the possibility of further conservation and cleaning.

Sold without a frame.

A pair of this type is particularly interesting for collectors of Italian old master painting and for those seeking 17th-century devotional works tied to the Emilia tradition and the Guercino world.

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