PROVENANCE: Possibly Principe Urbano Barberini, Rome (by 1686); Commissaire L'Enfant, Paris; Julius Weitzner, New York, 1957; BJU, 1957.

The nickname "Guercino" (the squinter) was given to Barberini due to a divergent-eye birth defect which in no way deterred his ability or ambition to paint, as evidenced by his lifelong production of hundreds of paintings, thousands of drawings, and numerous frescoes. He began his career under the influence of Lodovico Carracci, but travel throughout Italy soon brought experiences with numerous styles that helped refine his own mature style. After several busy years working for Pope Gregory XV, Guercino operated a large studio in his hometown of Cento. Upon the death of Guido Reni (1642), Guercino moved to Bologna to assume the artistic leadership of that city. Scholars then and now consider Guercino one of the most important and innovative 17th-century Italian painters.

Guercino illustrates the touching moment recorded in Genesis 37:34-35, "And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him." Guercino's departure from the usual narrative rendering of the scene presents a uniquely intimate focus on the lonely, mournful lament of Jacob.

The style of Jacob Mourning over Joseph's Coat reflects the beginnings of Guercino's transitional period (1623-1634), when he returned to his hometown from Rome after the death of Pope Gregory XV in 1623. The vigorous brushwork, saturated colors, and bold, naturalistic modeling of a figure in the foreground of the picture frame are hallmarks of a time in the artist's career when his style became less baroque and more classical.