Bust of a Man Facing Right

William Griswold (1991) dated this drawing to the 1630s, based on its stylistic similarity with other studies of heads datable to the same period. Linda Wolk-Simon (1991) notes that Nicholas Turner (in an unpublished opinion) includes the Museum's sheet in a group of studies from the 1630s that are similar in handling and subject matter. Among this group, which features single male figures in half- or bust-length, are Studies of a Man Reading (Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge inv. 1932.233), Old Bearded Man (Royal Library, Windsor; inv. 2588) and St. Joseph Holding a Staff ( Princeton University Art Museum inv. 40-40).
While the dating of Guercino's mature period drawings can often be tricky, a date in the early to mid 1640s may be suggested on the basis of its great economy of style and technique: deep tonal modeling in washes, with little or no internal pen hatching in the shadows, a restrained use of pen and ink outlines. The drawing is precisely comparable to a study of a warrior from this period (Private Collection; Turner and Plazzotta, 1991, no. 134, pp. 161-165).