Gregorio Guglielmi “1740”

The article analyzes the painting of the ‘Incredulity of St. Thomas with Saints James and Francesco di Paola’ in the Collegiata of San Michele Arcangelo at Caprarola. Its monogram “GG” and date “1740” identify it as the work of one of the most talented artists in Rome in the mid–eighteenth century: Gregorio Guglielmi. His paintings in Rome are, however, of great rarity, due to the fact that he soon left the city and embarked on a career in the courts of central and eastern Europe. The interest of this painting also consists in its dating, which makes it one the earliest so far identified. It is still manifestly under the influence of Guglielmi’s master, Francesco Trevisani, but at the same time differs from him in its tighter formal control. Though remaining faithful to a vocabulary based on the decorative flourishes of an accentuated late–baroque manner, Guglielmi’s style emphasizes the value of the individual figures which are gradually acquiring a distinct neoclassical quality. This is in perfect tune with the tendencies that were being reinforced in the transition between the pontificates of Clement XII and Benedict XIV. Guglielmi’s observation of the contemporary work of Corrado Giaquinto in Rome can also be detected.