Young Boy in Armor

"A Young Boy in Armor" closely resembles other examples of Guercino's earlier work in black chalk with white chalk highlights, including a stylistically similar "Head of a Youth" attributed to Guercino in the British Museum, London, dated by Nicholas Turner and Carol Plazzotta to the artist's pre-Roman period or right after his move to Rome (pre-1620 to the early 1620s) (inv. 1946-7-13-83; Turner and Plazzotta 1991, App. no. 81, p. 277, repr.; Turner and Plazzotta 1991, p. 277). While different in medium and style, Guercino's pen-and-ink sketches of David in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem (inv. H 2, H 47, H 73; Serooskerken 1991, cat. 16, 35-36, pp. 60-1, 98-101, repr.), preparatory to his later paintings of "Abigail Placating David with Gifts," most notably the 1636 painting executed for Cardinal Antonio Barberini, formerly in Bridgewater House, London, now destroyed (Salerno 1988, cat. 161, p. 250; Serooskerken 1991, p. 60), reveal that Guercino reused the Young Boy's posture in this later painting, both figures looking to their right with right hands on hips and left hands holding weapons. The drawing may have been made after a model posed in the studio in preparation for a history painting including the youthful David of the Old Testament or for a portrait. Nicholas Turner suggested an alternative attribution of the sheet to Benedetto Gennari (1633-1715), an artist who frequently used black and white chalk in combination with tinted paper (Turner, E-mail correspondence, September 2009).
Formerly attributed to Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino. Cento 1591-1666 Bologna.