Elijah fed by Ravens

Guercino painted this in 1620 for Cardinal Jacopo Serra, the papal legate who governed Ferrara and one of the young painter's first enthusiastic patrons. The story is in the first Book of Kings, and the tablet beside the prophet names the book and chapter in the old Latin numbering. Elijah has foretold a drought and hides by the brook Cherith, where ravens bring him bread and meat morning and evening. Guercino makes him larger than life, twisting on his rock, his weathered feet near the water, his old face turned up to the birds as he holds out his cloak to catch what they bring. An empty bowl lies at his feet, and his sleeve is torn at the shoulder. By 1655 the canvas belonged to the Barberini in Rome, the family of Pope Urban VIII, and it is still in its Barberini frame.