The Dead Christ mourned by Two Angels c. 1617-18
The National Gallery, London

The seventeenth-century was an age of art superstars, no less so than the Renaissance which preceded it. Rubens, van Dyck, Caravaggio, Velazquez and the Carracci are just a few of the master artists of the Baroque period. Guercino deserves to be on that list.

Portrait of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino, 1623 -by Ottavio Leoni (Italy, Rome, 1587 – 1630), Print

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri is more well known as Guercino, which is Italian for ‘squinter’, because he was cross-eyed. The legend is that his cross-eyed appearance was somehow due to an inattentive nursemaid. Apparently, when she left him alone while he was sleeping a loud noise startled him awake and the fright caused one of his eyes to fix at an angle in its socket. The result is seen in Leoni’s portrait of Guercino, above. A more likely cause for this is that his strabismus^[1] (the technical term for crossed-eyes) might have been congenital. Congenital strabismus sometimes initially goes unnoticed in newborns.

In normal human vision both eyes track together, with each seeing its own image from a slightly divergent point. The brain then fuses these two images into one. This is called stereo vision and this ability is what helps us to discern depth. But when the focus points of each eye are far apart the brain has great difficulty in reconciling the two images, as is the case with strabismus. As a result, one of two things happens: either the person will see double or their brain will effectively block the focus of the non-dominant eye. Focus-block is not the same as closing the eye however. It is as if the focus-blocked eye is part of their peripheral vision. Everything is still seen with both eyes, but the non-dominant eye is just highly blurred. The person has the ability to intentionally switch the focus between their two eyes but cannot focus out of both simultaneously.

Almost all biographies mention Guercino’s eyes but few attempt to discern what affect, if any, his condition had on his art. I believe that in some ways it actually helped him. According to a review of a 2006 show at the Getty^[2], “On bad days, he thought of his condition as a minor inconvenience. On good ones, it distinguished him from the competition and became a trademark that, rumor had it, aided his concentration when drawing from life and translating his pen-and-ink studies into dramatic paintings and action-packed, ceiling-spanning frescoes.“^[3]

Traditionally trained art students have long been advised to close one eye when looking at their source. Closing one eye effectively blocks stereo-vision and helps the artist to view their three-dimensional subject closer in appearance to what the artwork will look like. This action may also help the artist look a little more carefully, since the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional paper or canvas surface is just that, an illusion. Seeing these visual cues directly in nature takes a trained visual perception and/or a knowledge of form construction. Since the paper or canvas is flat, the representation of depth in a drawing or painting is primarily done through edge handling and to a lesser extent values.

Guercino, Self Portrait c. 1624-26-Oil on canvas, detail

Above is a self portrait by Guercino. Notice that both of his eyes appear properly aligned, sort of. Is this artistic license? Maybe and maybe not. Although uncommon, it is possible to have strabismus and yet only slightly show its affects when the dominant eye is being used. In other words, both eyes may appear properly aligned to an onlooker. When the person switches their focus to the non-dominant eye, the cross-eyed or wall-eyed look becomes more noticeable.

Another thing to notice in the self portrait above is that Guercino may have been left-handed. If the painting was done using a single mirror then the palette is in his right hand, making him left-handed. His painting, St. Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin, below, may well be another self-portrait. If so, it also shows the artist as left-handed.

St. Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin c. 1653-1653 -Oil on canvas
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

For further reading:
Guercino

• Guercino: Mind To Paper
• Guercino: Stylistic Evolution in Focus
• Guercino: Master Painter of the Baroque
• Drawings by Guercino from British Collections
• Restoration Online – Restoring a Masterwork II: Guercino’s Erminia and the Shepherds

Stereoblindness

• Are you stereoblind?
• Stereoblind by Timothy Ledwith
• Learning to See In Stereo
• Fixing My Gaze: A Scientists Journey Into Seeing In Three Dimensions by Susan Barry

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1. Strabismus ^
2. Guercino: Mind To Paper ^
3. LA Times Guercino Show Review ^