During his later years, Guercino was troubled by various medical problems, which reduced his output. However, he remained active as an artist until his death on December 22, 1666 in Bologna.

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In his later years, Guercino continued to infuse significant religious subjects with homoerotic feeling, as he did, for example, in the monumental Flagellation of Christ (1658, Galleria Corsini, Rome), commissioned by Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali, then cardinal legate of Ferrara. Holding a whip loosely by his side, Christ's tormenter gently lifts up some of his hair as he gazes intently at him with an expression encompassing both compassion and desire.

The sensitivity and beauty of the radiant figure of Christ was praised lavishly by eighteenth-century travelers, who saw this picture in the public galleries of the Palazzo Chigi in Rome. However, John Ruskin (1819-1900), a preeminent Victorian critic, condemned the supposed moral decadence of this and other religious subjects by Guercino. Thus far, modern art historians have chosen to remain silent about the aspects of Guercino's work that disturbed Ruskin. But the homoerotic power of his paintings must be acknowledged if his artistic achievements are to be fully understood.

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