Guercino's fresco in Strada Maggiore
Inside Palazzo Sampieri Talon on Strada Maggiore is a magnificent fresco by Guercino painted in his mature years. It is said that it was the painter himself who chose the subject of the work, such was his fame at the time of the commission.
The fresco narrates an episode from the story of Hercules and Antaeus. In Greek mythology, Antaeus was a giant, son of Mother Earth and Poseidon, who drew his strength precisely from his contact with the earth, his primeval element. Intent on defeating him, Hercules tried to lift him off the ground, and so it was that Antaeus found himself without strength. The fresco depicts the scene of Hercules and Antaeus’ fight, while Hercules holds his adversary in a deadly embrace.
Hercules and Antheus is one of Guercino's least known works in Bologna. Today, however, it can be admired thanks to the 'Amici del Guercino' Association and the owners of Palazzo Sampieri Talon.
About Guercino
Guercino was born in 1591 in Cento, in the province of Ferrara. His talent for painting was apparent from childhood. It is said that he executed his first freehand work on the façade of his house in Cento, depicting an image of the Virgin.
Supported by his family, Guercino learned painting in the workshop of Bertozzi and then Bartolomeo Gennari. At the age of 18, he arrived in Bologna and continued his learning in other workshops, while admiring the works of art in the city's palaces and churches. Among the painters who most impressed him were the
Carraccis, whom he had already had the opportunity to observe a few years earlier in Cento, where a work by Ludovico Carracci was kept.
He then moved to Ferrara, a city where he broadened his horizons by admiring works
influenced by Venetian painting from previous centuries. Over time, his success grew so much that in 1621 he was called to Rome by Pope Gregory XV of Bologna, and stayed there for about a decade before returning to Emilia.
Fun fact: it seems that the nickname 'Guercino' comes from an
alleged squint of the artist, and that this sight defect may have influenced the way he placed figures in space.
His painting style
Guercino is one of the masters of the mature Baroque phase. In his works, most of which were executed during the 17th century, he very often played with contrasts of light and shadow, thus distinguishing himself from the prevailing style of his time.
