Guercino Celebrated in Piacenza Amid Controversial Art Market Tales

Piacenza is hosting a series of events dedicated to the 17th-century painter Giovan Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, running until June 4. Visitors can view his frescoes of Prophets, Sibyls, and Stories of Christ's Childhood in the cathedral's gallery, while Palazzo Farnese presents a selection of twenty works offering an overview of his career. This follows recent discoveries: art historian Massimo Pulini found a Guercino altarpiece, The Assunta, in Aversa in late 2016, previously attributed to the Neapolitan school; in February 2017, a stolen altarpiece of Madonna with Saints John the Evangelist and Gregory Thaumaturgus, taken from Modena's Church of San Vincenzo in August 2014, was recovered in Casablanca. The article also recounts dubious attributions: in 2015, a mediocre painting of Joseph and Potiphar's Wife was presented as a Guercino in Modena, defaced with a stylized penis; in 2011, a supposed Guercino (Mars Held Back by Love) from the Luxembourg-based Dionysos Art Fund was exhibited at Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome for promotional purposes. The fund was recently ordered closed by Luxembourg's judiciary. The author recommends the documentary Follow the Paintings (2016, Sky) for more on such speculations.