Guercino’s Friar with a Gold Earring

• Accompanies the exhibition of the same title at The Ringling, Sarasota FL, from October 14, 2023 through January 7, 2024.
• First full investigation into Guercino’s intriguing portrait and its sitter
• Offers new scholarship based on extensive archival research and supporting illustrations
• Investigates how drawings were appreciated and collected in the 17^th century
• Provides an up-to-date overview of 17^th-century Italian miniature painting

Accompanies the exhibition of the same title at The Ringling, Sarasota FL, from October 14, 2023 through January 7, 2024.

Who is the intriguing man wearing a religious habit and a gold hoop earring in this portrait by Italian Baroque master Il Guercino? And why does he point to a stack of drawings? This fascinating book investigates The Ringling’s portrait of Fra Bonaventura Bisi, a Franciscan Minor Conventual friar whose work as an art dealer, printmaker, and celebrated painter of miniatures made him a major figure in the artistic culture of 17^th-century Bologna. Beautifully illustrated, this volume offers new scholarship on both Guercino’s portrait and Fra Bisi’s life, including his extraordinary miniatures, his dogged pursuit of artworks for high-ranking collectors, his passionate efforts to promote the appreciation and collecting of drawings, and—not least—his incongruous gold hoop earring. Published to accompany an important exhibition at The Ringling, this book, based on years of research, provides a captivating glimpse into art making and art collecting in Baroque Italy.

David M. Stone is Professor Emeritus at the University of Delaware and a specialist in 17^th-century Italian art.

Sarah Cartwright is Ulla R. Searing Curator of Collections at The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art.