Cardinal Francesco Cennini

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino

National Gallery of Art

In this painting, a man is shown seated, facing forward, with a red biretta on his head. He has pale, wrinkled skin, deep-set eyes, a prominent nose, and a neatly trimmed grey beard and mustache. He wears a red garment over his shoulders and torso with a white collar and cuffs, and lace details on the sleeves, with a pleated white robe underneath. His forearms rest on the arms of the chair he sits in, and in one of his hands he holds a partially open book. The chair is ornately decorated, and the background shows dark purple drapery on the left and a dark wall on the right, with an illuminated triangle of lighter brown.