(verso)
These two saints were brothers, both Roman officers who were beheaded in A.D.362 for their Christian faith. In one of his most inventive sequences of compositional studies, Guercino describes their execution in gory detail and from varying angles. Here the executioner fiercely grasps a kneeling saint by the hair, ready to strike; on the right, near a decapitated body, a meandering line of ink resembles a trail of blood. The other side of the sheet shows a more resolved composition.

(recto)
The arrangement of figures in this study is much like those in the final painting (now in the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse). The artist focuses on the back of the executioner, his tense muscles indicating the violence of the act he is about to perform. A severed head is prominently displayed nearby. The other side of the sheet shows an earlier compositional idea.

by descent to the artist's nephews, Benedetto Gennari (1633-1715) and Cesare Gennari (1637-1688), 1666; by descent to Cesare’s sons, Gianfrancesco Gennari (1671-1727) and Filippo Antonio Gennari (1677-1751), 1719; by descent to Gianfrancesco's son, Carlo Gennari (1716-1790); presumably Francesco Forni, Bologna (18th century) or Abbé Bonducci, Florence (18th century); presumably acquired from either of those by John Bouverie, England (ca. 1722/1723-1750), 1741 or 1745; by descent to his sister, Anne Hervey (d. 1757); by descent to her son, Christopher Hervey (d. 1786); by descent to his aunt, Elizabeth Bouverie (d. 1798); by descent to Sir Charles Middleton, later 1st Baron Barham (1726-1813); by descent to his son-in-law, Sir Gerard Noel, 2nd Baron Barham (1759-1838); by descent to his son, Charles Noel, later 1st Earl of Gainsborough (1781-1866); by descent to Charles Noel, 3rd Earl of Gainsborough (1850-1926); his sale, Christie's (London), 27 July 1922, part of lot 81 (a box containing 68 drawings by Guercino and others); purchased there by F.R. Meatyard (London) on behalf of Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b (£90 for the lot); Witt Bequest 1952

Guercino - Mind to Paper, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 22/02/2007-13/05/2007

Guercino - Mind to Paper, J Paul Getty Museum & Los Angeles & California & USA, 24/10/2006-21/01/2007

Drawings by Guercino from British Collections, British Museum, London, 1991 ...More

Guercino: Mind to paper, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Courtauld Gallery, London, 2006-2007 Los Angeles, 2006
no. 16
ill. on p. 54

Drawings by Guercino from British collections, British Museum, London, 1991, 1991
cat. no. 88
pp. 31 note 92, 32 note 108, 43, 102, 112, 114-117
ill. on p. 116 (recto), 117 (verso)

Guercino, Master Draftsman: works from North American collections, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, MA; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991
pp. 58, 66 ...More

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: 4

Collector's mark: collector's mark of Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b)