Born in Cento in 1591, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called the Guercino because he was cross-eyed, is one of the most significant artists of the great 17th-century painting in Emilia.
The painter leaves some paintings in Pieve di Cento, whose history is inextricably linked to that of its twin city, Cento, just a few step away across the river Reno.
Fundamental due to his artistic training and his meeting with Ludovico Carracci, who introduced him into the Bolognese cultural environment. The Guercino then developed his personal style, following the precepts of Baroque aesthetics without however abandoning those instances of accurate truthfulness so central to the lessons of Carracci.
His art soon gained the attention of the most important patrons. In 1621, he was in Rome and for Cardinal Ludovisi, who had become Pope with the name Gregory XV, he created the frescoes of the Casino Ludovisi. In 1642, when Guido Reni died, Guercino found a position in his homeland, inheriting the role of head of the bolognese paint School.
He died in 1666 in Bologna, where he is buried in the Church of SS. Salvatore. His paintings are now kept in major museums the world over, but it is in his homeland that there is the greatest concentration of his works.
A suggested route:
By bicycle in the land of the Guercino
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