St William of Aquitaine Receiving the Cowl Guercino, 1620

St William of Aquitaine Receiving the Cowl
Guercino, 1620
Oil on canvas, 349 × 231 cm
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna

A dazzling burst of Baroque drama, St William of Aquitaine Receiving the Cowl was painted by Guercino in 1620 for the church of San Gregorio in Bologna. Contemporary viewers were stunned—some claiming it outshone every other work in the church, even those by the esteemed Lodovico Carracci.

This was a defining early masterpiece for Guercino, and one he approached with meticulous care. Dozens of preparatory sketches and compositional studies preceded the final work. The arrangement is strikingly original: figures encircle the canvas in the shape of an invisible diamond, leaving the center hauntingly empty. Light cascades across the scene, from the softest whites of the monk’s robes to shadowed depths that seem to breathe.

This bold and luminous painting captured the eye of Cardinal Ludovisi and propelled Guercino to the forefront of the Bolognese school—securing his reputation as one of the most gifted painters of the Italian Baroque.