Guercino, 'Saint Gregory the Great with Jesuit Saints', about 1625-6
About the work
Overview
This altarpiece commemorates one of the most important events of the papacy of Pope Gregory XV (born Alessandro Ludovisi). It shows the Jesuits Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier being canonised (officially declared saints in the Roman Catholic Church). This occurred on 12 March 1622, the feast day of Saint Gregory the Great.
Regarded as one of the Doctors, or Fathers, of the Western Church, Gregory the Great was pope from 590 to 604. Here he is seated on an elevated throne between Saint Ignatius Loyola, Spanish founder of the Society of Jesus (or Jesuits), on the left and Saint Francis Xavier, the first great Jesuit missionary, on the right.
The painting was likely commissioned by the Ludovisi family after Gregory XV’s death in 1623 to honour his close connections with the Jesuit order. The Ludovisi were one of Bologna’s most distinguished families and early patrons of Guercino.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Saint Gregory the Great with Saints Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier
- Artist
- Guercino
- Artist dates
- 1591 - 1666
- Date made
- about 1625-6
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 296 × 211 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by the Trustees of Sir Denis Mahon's Charitable Trust through the Art Fund, 2013
- Inventory number
- NG6622
- Location
- Room 32
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 21st-century Replica Frame
Provenance
Presumably commissioned by the papal Ludovisi family, probably in 1625–6. Given by Prince Niccolò Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV, to Don Juan Alfonso Enríquez de Cabrera (1597–1647), 9th Almirante de Castilla and viceroy of Naples, in 1646; donated to the church of San Pascual Bailon, Madrid, by his son, the 10th Almirante, at his death in 1691 and recorded there by Antonio Ponz in 1776. The painting was removed from the church by 1815, probably by Baron Mathieu de Faviers, Intendant-général of Napoleon’s Armée du midi, in whose posthumous sale in Paris it appeared on 11 April 1837, lot 18. Acquired by the 2nd Duke of Sutherland and hung at Stafford (now Lancaster) House, London; sold Christie’s, London, 8 February 1908 (Duke of Sutherland sale), lot 82, bought by Sir George Faudel Phillips, Bt, and placed at Balls Park, Hertford. Seen there by Sir Denis Mahon in the mid-1930s and bought by him in 1941 after the death of Sir Lionel Faudel-Phillips (son of Sir George); lent for the exhibition Guercino in Britain, The National Gallery, London, 1991; presented by the Trustees of Sir Denis Mahon’s Charitable Trust through the Art Fund, 2013.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gabriele Finaldi and Michael Kitson, ‘Discovering the Italian Baroque: The Denis Mahon Collection’ (exh. cat. National Gallery, London, 1997), London 1997 and supplemented by the National Gallery’s Annual Report, ‘The National Gallery: Review of the Year, April 2012 – March 2013’; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1844A.M. Jameson, Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London: Containing Accurate Catalogues, Arranged Alphabetically, for Immediate Reference, Each Preceded by an Historical & Critical Introduction […], London 1844
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1846Anon., 'Visits to Private Galleries: The Collection of His Grace the Duke of Sutherland K. G', Art Union, VIII, 1846
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1854G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
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1947D. Mahon, Studies in Seicento Art and Theory, London 1947
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1950D. Mahon, 'Addenda to Seicento Studies', The Burlington Magazine, XCII, 1950, pp. 80-1
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1953G. Briganti, 'The Mahon Collection of Seicento Paintings', The Connoisseur, CXXXII, 1953, pp. 4-18
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1965A.E. Pérez Sánchez, Pintura italiana del s. XVII en España, Madrid 1965
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1968D. Mahon, Il Guercino: Catalogo critico dei dipinti (exh. cat. Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, 1 September - 18 November 1968), Bologna 1968
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1972R. Fry, Letters of Roger Fry: 1908, ed. D. Sutton, London 1972
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1988L. Salerno, I dipinti del Guercino, Rome 1988
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1991D.M. Stone, Guercino: Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1991
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1991S. Ebert-Schifferer (ed.), Il Guercino (exh. cat. Schirn Kunsthalle, 3 December 1991 - 9 February 1992), Frankfurt 1991
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1991M. Helston et al., Guercino in Britain: Paintings from British Collections (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 28 June - 31 July 1991), London 1991
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1991D. Mahon, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino, 1591-1666 (exh. cat. Museo civico archeologico, 6 July - 10 November 1991; Schirn Kunsthalle, 2 December 1991 - 9 February 1992; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 15 March - 17 May 1992), Bologna 1991
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1992D. Mahon, Guercino: Master Painter of the Baroque (exh. cat. Pinacoteca Nazionale, 6 July - 10 November 1991; Schirn Kunsthalle, 2 December 1991 - 9 February 1992; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 15 March - 17 May 1992), Washington 1992
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1995N. Gotteri, 'Un collectioneur Alsacien: Le Baron Mathieu de Faviers (1761-1833)', Revue d'Alsace, 121, 1995, pp. 111-46
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1997G. Finaldi et al., Discovering the Baroque: The Denis Mahon Collection (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 26 February - 18 May 1997), London 1997
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2001B.L. Brown (ed.), The Genius of Rome, London 2001
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2005M. Pulini et al., Nel Segno di Guercino: Guercino as Master Draughtsman: Drawings from the Mahon Collection (exh. cat. Pinacoteca Civica, 28 May - 31 July 2005; Ashmolean Museum, 2 November 2005 - 16 January 2006), London 2005
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2006J. Frings, Barock im Vatikan: Kunst und Kultur im Rom der Päpste II 1572 - 1676 (exh. cat. Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 25 November 2005 - 19 March 2006; Martin-Gropius-Bau und den Berliner Festspielen, 12 April - 10 July 2006), Bonn 2006
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2014National Gallery, The National Gallery: Review of the Year, April 2012 - March 2013, London 2014
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
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