Circumcision of Christ (Guercino)

Circumcision of Christ is a 1646 oil on canvas of the Circumcision of Christ by Guercino, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, where it has been since 1811. It was painted as the high altarpiece for a church in Bologna and was originally surmounted by a semi-oval showing God the Father and the Holy Spirit - this is now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna. Three pen and brown ink studies for the work survive, two in the Royal Collection and one in the Pinacoteca di Brera. There are also two drawings of the Virgin's clothing.