This boldly executed painting is probably an oil sketch made from the life as a study of physiognomy and expression. Although the man's gaze and the warm lighting suggest that Guercino had in mind a figure of a saint or a prophet, it is not connected with a final painting, nor is it a fragment of a finished work.
Inspired by a true story, Invincible recounts the last 48 hours in the life of Marc-Antoine Bernier, a 14-year-old boy on a desperate quest for freedom.