Lot 47: Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri , Fossombrone 1589 - 1655 Pesaro Judith with the head of Holofernes oil on canvas, unlined

signed and dated lower left on the sword Franc. Guerierius. Foros is . Fecit. io. 1626 inscribed on the reverse of the original canvas DEL S: CARDINALE GESSI/ DONATO/ A S:A: CRISTINA GESSI. inscribed in an old hand on the original stretcher Del Sig. Cardinale oil on canvas, unlined

measurements note 16 by 18 5/8 in.; 40.5 by 47.5 cm.

A. Emiliani & M. Cellini, Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri da Fossombrone, Bologne 1997, p. 193, cat. no. A8, reproduced.

This painting depicting the Old Testament story of the great Jewish heroine, Judith, is one of only twenty-one works attributed to Guerrieri. Very few of these are signed and even fewer are securely dated, so its historic importance is therefore significant. The present painting, dated 1626, comes from the artist's maturity, shortly after the execution of the altarpiece of The Trinity with Saint Michael Archangel for the church of San Filippo in Fossombrone (now in the Museo Civico), which is also fully signed and dated 1624. According to the inscription on the reverse, this painting was obviously an important commission from Cardinal Gessi, who was involved in the sentence that the Church passed on Galileo as a result of his publication in 1632 of his masterpiece The Dialogue of the Two Great World Systems. This publication led to what has been termed "The Inquisition." By depicting this subject, Guerrieri followed a tradition already venerable in his day. He probably knew either the version by Caravaggio (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini, dated 1598-1599), or the two Judiths by Artemisia Gentileschi (Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, dated circa 1612-1613, and Florence, Galleria degli Ufizzi, dated circa 1620).