St Romuald

In his last period Guercino proceeded to a marked classicism by eliminating the ‘chiaroscuro’ effects of the earlier years.

Romuald (c. 952-1027) was a Benedictine monk who entered the Order as an act of atonement after his father had murdered a relative. Finding the monastic life of his day in need of reform he founded communities that were vowed to solitude and silence, of which the best known was the monastery of Camaldoli in the Appenines near Arezzo. Romuald is old and white-bearded and is dressed in the habit of the Camaldolese Order, a striking loose-flowing white garment with wide sleeves.