On view
European Art
Arrest of Christ,
late 1620s
Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1591–1666; born Cento, Italy; died Bologna, Italy
x1948-744
According to biblical accounts, Christ was arrested by Roman soldiers at night in the Garden of Gethsemane after being betrayed by Judas. In this sketch for a lost painting, Guercino used economical means for maximum expression, combining elegant yet robust contours with subtly varied washes to convey the essence of the violent scene. Although no details of the setting are provided, flickering passages of light and shadow capture the nocturnal moment. A brilliant and versatile draftsman, Guercino produced thousands of brainstorming studies such as this for his paintings, most of them radically different from the final compositions.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Arrest of Christ
Dates
late 1620s
Medium
Pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash
Dimensions
20 x 30.2 cm (7 7/8 x 11 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Dan Fellows Platt, Class of 1895
Object Number
x1948-744
Inscription
in brown ink, on verso, center: Daudet | Ce 18 fevrier 1788. | Ce dessin provient de la vente de M. Chariot huissier | Commissaire priseur qui c'est faite [v'etre?] la fin de janvier | de la [...] . . . . . . . 251".1.s.
Culture
Type
Materials
Subject
Armand Frédéric Ernest Nogaret (1734-1806), sold in Paris, June 2, 1780 (no. 68). Antoine-Claude Chariot (1733-1815), sold in Paris, Jan 28, 1788 (no. 87). Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897). Parsons & Sons, London; purchased by Dan Fellows Platt (1873–1937) in 1923; bequeathed to Princeton University Art Museum, 1937.
- Une belle collection de tableaux, des ʹecoles flamande, hollandoise et françoise: par J. B. P. Le Brun: la vente en sera faite le vendredi 2 juin 1780, (Paris: J.B.P. Le Brun?, 1780)., no. 68
- Catalogue d'une collection choise de tableaux originaux et dessins precieux des trois écoles: bustes en marbre, bronzes d'un beau choix...du cabinet de M. Ch***, (Paris?: A.J. Paillet, 1788). , no. 87
- Jacob Bean, Italian drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton University; 106 selected examples, (New York: October House, 1966)., no. 32
- Diane De Grazia, Guercino drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton University, March ll through April 6, 1969, (Princeton, NJ, Princeton University, 1969)., no. 3
- Renato Roli, G.F. Barbieri, Guercino, (Milano: A. Martello, 1972)., cat. no. 30; p. 24, pl. 30
- Felton Gibbons, Catalogue of Italian Drawings in The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977).
- Denis Mahon and Nicholas Turner, The drawings of Guercino in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989)., p. 77-78, mentioned under cat. no. 138
- David Stone, Guercino, master draftsman: works from North American collections, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museum; Bologna, Italy: Nuova Alfa Editoriale, 1991)., p. 118, no. 2; p. 218, no. 98
- Mimi Cazort, "The Art of Embellishment: Drawings and Paintings by Gaetano and Mauro Gandolfi for a Festive Carriage," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 52, no. 2 (1993): p. 28–35.
- Barbara T. Ross, "A prime teaching collection at Princeton: The Platt and Mather drawings," Master Drawings 38, no. 3 (Autumn, 2000): p. 303-310., p. 304, fig. 2
