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==Comparisons with the ''Secondo Maniera'' of Guercino==

==Comparisons with the ''Secondo Maniera'' of Guercino==

===Introduction===

===Introduction===

The Baroque period was a time of rapid transition when the Italian arts evolved into a more textured and deeper medium of personal expression. Guercino, a young savant from the small northern town of Cento, was highly influenced by the Carracci’s among others who focused on a bold new form of naturalism. Over Guercino’s long lifetime, his ''Prima Maniera'' featuring bold compositions with strong lighting and shading learned in the north, yielded ever more to his ''Secondo Maniera'' which employed a subtle palette with a more refined classical style.  Guercino’s late in life work ''[[Keyword:=The Personification of Astrology|The Personification of Astrology]] (1655)'' serves as a strong guidepost for a retrospective on his illustrious career. We will start with a comparison to his widely acknowledged seminal work ''The Burial of Saint Petronilla (1623)'', created during his short but productive Roman period, before looking at a midlife work ''Esther before Ahasuerus (1639)''.  

The Baroque period was a time of rapid transition when the Italian arts evolved into a more textured and deeper medium of personal expression. Guercino, a young savant from the small northern town of Cento, was highly influenced by the Carracci’s among others who focused on a bold new form of naturalism. Over Guercino’s long lifetime, his ''Prima Maniera'' featuring bold compositions with strong lighting and shading learned in the north, yielded ever more to his ''Secondo Maniera'' which employed a subtle palette with a more refined classical style.  Guercino’s late in life work ''[[Keyword:=The Personification of Astrology|The Personification of Astrology]] (1655)'' serves as a strong guidepost for a retrospective on his illustrious career. We will start with a comparison to his widely acknowledged seminal work ''The Burial of Saint Petronilla (1623)'', created during his short but productive Roman period, before looking at a midlife work ''Esther before Ahasuerus (1639)''.  

===Success in Rome: ''The Burial of St. Petronilla (1623)''===

===Success in Rome: ''The Burial of St. Petronilla (1623)''===

Guercino formed the ideas leading to his Prima Maniera from his hometown of Cento, in the independent Emilia region of Italy where the Carracci’s Bolognese school dominated the somewhat isolated region. Works from the school greatly influenced Guercino’s naturalistic style, which featured strong lighting and shading choices. Guercino’s bold take on this chiaroscuro style impressed powerful religious patrons, eventually leading him to Rome in 1621 after much success in the north.  However, “His early naturalistic chiaroscuro style, so successfully practiced in Emilia, was not highly regarded in the sophisticated Roman court milieu in which he then found himself” <ref>Turner</ref>. Two years later, ''The Burial of Saint Petronilla (1623)'' showed the court a radical reorientation of his Prima Maniera style that was as bold as his previous efforts, but exuded a new level of refinement.

Guercino formed the ideas leading to his Prima Maniera from his hometown of Cento, in the independent Emilia region of Italy where the Carracci’s Bolognese school dominated the somewhat isolated region. Works from the school greatly influenced Guercino’s naturalistic style, which featured strong lighting and shading choices. Guercino’s bold take on this chiaroscuro style impressed powerful religious patrons, eventually leading him to Rome in 1621 after much success in the north.  However, “His early naturalistic chiaroscuro style, so successfully practiced in Emilia, was not highly regarded in the sophisticated Roman court milieu in which he then found himself” <ref>Turner</ref>. Two years later, ''The Burial of Saint Petronilla (1623)'' showed the court a radical reorientation of his Prima Maniera style that was as bold as his previous efforts, but exuded a new level of refinement.

The Esther story remains an emotionally charged narrative despite “represent[ing] a later phase of the painter’s career, when classical theories exerted a certain formal and emotional restraint in his work” (Plummer). Esther is seen swooning before the Persian King Ahasuerus, after defying death to plead with him to stop the massacre of her Jewish people. Esther’s self-sacrifice was later modified to reflect church teachings, and became a popular subject matter among religious depictions. The Catholic Church came to portray Esther as the Immaculate Virgin in her role of intercessor on the Day of Judgment in church iconography <ref>Hall 116</ref>. The King in his symbolic God role grants Esther’s request with the wave of his golden scepter, which causes her to faint into the arms of the surprised chambermaids. Through subtle symbolism, ''The Personification of Astrology (1655)'' also hints at the notion of the Immaculate Virgin. Biblical symbolism tells that The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception is crowned with a circle of stars <ref>Hall 289</ref>. The female astrologer figure also displays a row of stars across her hair cover. Going with the notion of the astrologer as the Immaculate Virgin finalizes Guercino’s ''Secondo Maniera'', as even the narrative takes an element of subtlety.  

The Esther story remains an emotionally charged narrative despite “represent[ing] a later phase of the painter’s career, when classical theories exerted a certain formal and emotional restraint in his work” (Plummer). Esther is seen swooning before the Persian King Ahasuerus, after defying death to plead with him to stop the massacre of her Jewish people. Esther’s self-sacrifice was later modified to reflect church teachings, and became a popular subject matter among religious depictions. The Catholic Church came to portray Esther as the Immaculate Virgin in her role of intercessor on the Day of Judgment in church iconography <ref>Hall 116</ref>. The King in his symbolic God role grants Esther’s request with the wave of his golden scepter, which causes her to faint into the arms of the surprised chambermaids. Through subtle symbolism, ''The Personification of Astrology (1655)'' also hints at the notion of the Immaculate Virgin. Biblical symbolism tells that The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception is crowned with a circle of stars <ref>Hall 289</ref>. The female astrologer figure also displays a row of stars across her hair cover. Going with the notion of the astrologer as the Immaculate Virgin finalizes Guercino’s ''Secondo Maniera'', as even the narrative takes an element of subtlety.  

===Later Years in Bologna: ''The Personification of Astrology (1655)''===

===Later Years in Bologna: ''The Personification of Astrology (1655)''===

Art from his final period exhibits a refined subtlety in part due to the death of his chief competitor Guido Reni in 1640. One year before Reni’s death, ''Esther before Ahasuerus (1639)'' exhibits the final trademarks of his Prima Maniera mostly in the figure King Ahasuerus. Unlike the lucidly intertwined Esther, Ahasuerus is painted alone with aggressive coloring in his ornate jewelry, and at an emotional distance due to “Guercino’s Technique of filling in the eyes with dark blotches of ink keep[ing] us from reading clearly the emotional import of the figure’s (Ahasuerus) gaze” <ref>Plummer</ref>. Esther before Ahasuerus (1639) acts as a final link between the two distinct styles of Guercino with its mostly lucid compositions, despite the lone Ahasuerus figure painted in bold chiaroscuro. Two years later, Guercino moved his entire extended family from Cento to Bologna partly to escape the Wars of Castro, but probably also to work for the former patrons of the late Guido Reni. During his final Bologna period, Guercino painted few figures as bold and emotionally distant as King Ahasuerus. Reni’s former patrons were used to his refined classical style, which Guercino fully incorporated into his own work.   

Art from his final period exhibits a refined subtlety in part due to the death of his chief competitor Guido Reni in 1640. One year before Reni’s death, ''Esther before Ahasuerus (1639)'' exhibits the final trademarks of his Prima Maniera mostly in the figure King Ahasuerus. Unlike the lucidly intertwined Esther, Ahasuerus is painted alone with aggressive coloring in his ornate jewelry, and at an emotional distance due to “Guercino’s Technique of filling in the eyes with dark blotches of ink keep[ing] us from reading clearly the emotional import of the figure’s (Ahasuerus) gaze” <ref>Plummer</ref>. Esther before Ahasuerus (1639) acts as a final link between the two distinct styles of Guercino with its mostly lucid compositions, despite the lone Ahasuerus figure painted in bold chiaroscuro. Two years later, Guercino moved his entire extended family from Cento to Bologna partly to escape the Wars of Castro, but probably also to work for the former patrons of the late Guido Reni. During his final Bologna period, Guercino painted few figures as bold and emotionally distant as King Ahasuerus. Reni’s former patrons were used to his refined classical style, which Guercino fully incorporated into his own work.   

==Works Cited==

==Works Cited==

*Guercino. The Burial of St. Petronilla. 1623. Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy.

*Guercino. The Burial of St. Petronilla. 1623. Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy.

*Guercino. Esther Before Ahasuerus. 1639. Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

*Guercino. Esther Before Ahasuerus. 1639. Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

*Guercino. The Personification of Astrology. 1655. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas.

*Guercino. The Personification of Astrology. 1655. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas.

*Hall, James A. Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. New York: Richard D. Irwin, 1985. Print.

*Hall, James A. Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. New York: Richard D. Irwin, 1985. Print.

*Mahon, Denis. Guercino master painter of the Baroque. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1992. Print. 205-211.

*Mahon, Denis. Guercino master painter of the Baroque. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1992. Print. 205-211.

*Plummer, Ellen A. In focus, Guercino's Esther. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1993. Print.

*Plummer, Ellen A. In focus, Guercino's Esther. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1993. Print.

*Turner, Nicolas. "Guercino." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 27 Sep. 2009 [http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T035416/].

*Turner, Nicolas. "Guercino." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 27 Sep. 2009 [http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T035416/].