These subjects were frequently painted by Guercino, as documented in his Libro dei Conti.
San Giovanni Battista appears youthful, with delicate, graceful features. The saint’s connection to eremitic tradition is evoked by his soft fur garment, red cloak, and especially by the cross, a symbol of meditation. The scroll bearing the joyous proclamation of Christ’s birth highlights the saint’s prophetic role.
San Giuseppe, by contrast, is depicted alone and contemplative, hands crossed on his chest—a gesture of devotion that perhaps invites reflection on a “good death.”
Both works hold strong spiritual resonance and may have been part of the religious furnishings of Count Ettore Ghislieri, who, according to sources, retired as an Oratorian in the Madonna di Galliera after a life of luxury and patronage, founding an academy of prominent painters, including Guercino.
