Self portrait, c. 1602.

Guido Reni (November 4, 1575 – August 18, 1642) was a prominent Italian painter of high-Baroque style. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Events 293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is founded starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc

Biography

Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Denis Calvaert or Denys Calvaert (1540-1619 was a Flemish painter born at Antwerp but living mostly in Italy where he was known as Soon after, he was joined in that studio by Albani and Domenichino. See Albani for other uses of that name Francesco Albani or Albano ( March 17 or August 17, Domenico Zampieri (or Domenichino) ( October 21, 1581 &ndash April 15, 1641) was a prominent Italian Baroque He may also have trained with a painter by the name of Ferrantini. When Reni was about twenty years old, the three Calvaert pupils migrated to the rising rival studio, named Accademia degli Incamminati (Academy of the "newly embarked", or progressives), led by Lodovico Carracci. Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci ( 21 April 1555 &ndash 13 November 1619) was an Italian, early- Baroque They went on to form the nucleus of a prolific and successful school of Bolognese painters who followed Annibale Carracci to Rome. Like many other Bolognese painters, Reni's painting was thematic and eclectic in style.

Work in Rome

By late 1601, Reni and Albani had moved to Rome^[1] to work with the teams led by Annibale Carracci in fresco decoration of the Farnese Palace. Annibale Carracci ( November 3, 1560 - July 15, 1609) was an Italian Baroque painter. For other palaces with this name see Palazzo Farnese (disambiguation. During 1601-1604, his main patron was cardinal Sfondrato. Paolo Emilio Sfondrati (1560 – 14 February 1618) was an Italian Cardinal. By 1604-1605, he received an independent commission for an altarpiece to be placed in St Peter's Basilica of the Crucifixion of St. The Basilica of Saint Peter (Basilica Sancti Petri officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St Peter. After a few year sojourn in Bologna, he returned to Rome to become one of the premier painters during the papacy of Paul V (Borghese). For Napoleon's brother-in-law see Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese. Borghese is the surname of a family of Italian noble and papal background originating in Siena as the Borghese or Borghesi where they came to prominence in the 13th century From 1607-1614, he was one of the painters patronized by Borghese.

Abduction of Deianira, 1620-1621. Deïanira or Dejanira (Latinized in Greek, Δηϊάνειρα or Δῃάνειρα; Deïaneira 'man-destroyer'

Reni's frescoed ceiling of the large central hall of garden palace, Casino dell'Aurora located in the grounds of the Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi, is considered his masterpiece. The Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi is a palace in Rome. It was built by the Borghese family on the Quirinal Hill; its footprint occupies the site where The casino was originally a pavilion commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese^[2]; the rear portion overlooks the Piazza Montecavallo and Palazzo del Quirinale^[3]. Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1576 – October 2, 1633) was an Italian Renaissance prelate Art collector and member of the noble The Quirinal Palace (known in Italian as the Palazzo del Quirinale or simply the Quirinale) is the Official residence of the President The massive fresco is framed in quadri riportati and depicts Apollo in his Chariot preceded by Dawn (Aurora) bringing light to the world^[4]. The work is restrained in classicism, copying poses from Roman Sarcophagi, and showing far more simplicity and restraint than Carracci's riotous Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne^[5] in the Farnese. For other palaces with this name see Palazzo Farnese (disambiguation. Reni in this painting is allies himself more with the sterner Cavaliere d'Arpino,Lanfranco, and Albani "School" of mytho-historic painting, and less with the more crowded frescoes characteristic of Pietro da Cortona. Giuseppe Cesari (c 1568 - July 3, 1640) was an Italian Mannerist painter, also named Il Giuseppino and Giovanni Lanfranco ( 26 January 1582 - 30 November 1647) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period See Albani for other uses of that name Francesco Albani or Albano ( March 17 or August 17, Pietro da Cortona, byname of Pietro Berrettini ( November 1 1596 - May 16, 1669) was an Italian artist and architect of High Baroque There is little concession to perspective, and the vibrantly colored style is antithetical to the tenebrism of Caravaggio's followers. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, usually just known as Caravaggio, (28 September 1571 – 18 July 1610 was an Italian Artist active in Rome Payments showed that he was paid in 247 scudi and 54 baiocchi upon completion on September 24, 1616.

He also frescoed in Paoline Chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome as well as the Aldobrandini wings of the Vatican. The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (its Italian name known in English also as St Mary Major, is an ancient Catholic Basilica of Rome The Aldobrandini were an undistinguished Florentine family whose Roman fortunes were made when Ippolito Aldobrandini became pope under the name Pope Clement VIII. According to rumor, the pontifical chapel of Montecavallo (Chapel of the Annuciation) was assigned to Reni to paint. However, because he felt underpaid by the ministers, the artist left for Bologna, leaving the role of the preeminent artist in Rome to Domenichino.

Work in Naples and return to Bologna

In later years, Reni traveled to Naples to complete a commission to paint a ceiling in a chapel of the San Gennaro. Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the The Cathedral of Naples (or Duomo) is the main church of Naples, southern Italy. However, in Naples, the other local prominent painters, including Corenzio, Caracciolo and Ribera, were vehemently resistant to competitors, and according to rumor, conspired to poison or otherwise harm Reni (as may have befallen Domenichino in Naples before him). Belisario Corenzio (c 1558 - 1643 was an Italian Mannerist painter, a Greek by birth Giovanni Battista Caracciolo (also called Battistello; 1578 &ndash 1635 was an Italian artist and important Neapolitan follower of Caravaggio Jusepe de Ribera ( January 12, 1591 - 1652 was a Spanish Tenebrist painter and Printmaker, also known as José de Ribera in Spanish He passed briefly by Rome, but left that city abruptly, during the pontificate of Urban VIII, after being reprimanded by Cardinal Spinola. Pope

St Dominic's Glory crowning the Arca di San Domenico.

Returning to Bologna, more or less permanently, Reni established a successful and prolific studio. He was commissioned to decorate the cupola of the chapel of Saint Dominic in the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna, between 1613 and 1615, resulting in the radiant fresco St Dominic's Glory, a masterpiece that can stand the comparison with the exquisite Arca di San Domenico below. The Basilica of San Domenico is one of the major churches in Bologna, Italy The Arca di San Domenico (Ark of Saint Dominic is a monument containing the remains of Saint Dominic. He also contributed to the decoration of the Rosary Chapel in the same church with the Resurrection.

In Ravenna, he painted the chapel in the cathedral with his admired picture of the Israelites gathering Manna. Reni, after departing Rome, alternately painted in a variety of styles, true to the eclectic tastes of many of Carracci trainees. For example, his altarpiece for Samson Victorious formulates stylized poses characteristic of mannerism^[6]. Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. In contrast his Crucifixion and his Atlanta and Hipomenes[2] depict dramatic diagonal movement coupled with the effects of light and shade that betray the influence of Caravaggio. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, usually just known as Caravaggio, (28 September 1571 – 18 July 1610 was an Italian Artist active in Rome His turbulent and violent Massacre of the Innocents (Pinacoteca, Bologna) is painted in a manner reminiscent of Raphael. In 1630, he painted the Pallion del Voto with images of St. Ignatius and Francis Xavier, painted during the plague of 1630 that attacked Bologna.

The Archangel Michael, painted for the Capucins' Church in Rome. Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, or Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins, is a church in Rome, Italy, commissioned by Pope Urban

Penitent Magdalene, ca. 1635, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Reni's sensuous, sentimental images are among his most popular works.

Stone slab over the tomb of Guido Reni.

His most distinguished pupil was Simone Cantarini, named "Il Pesarese"; he painted a portrait of his master, now in the Bolognese Gallery. Simone Cantarini (also known as Simone da Pesaro; 12 April 1612 - 1648 was an Italian painter and Etcher of the Bolognese Other trainees were Domenico Maria Canuti and Giovanni Battista Michelini. Domenico Maria Canuti (1620 - 1660 was an Italian painter of the Baroque period active mainly in Bologna and Rome. Giovanni Battista Michelini (also called il Folignate) (1604‑1655 was an Italian painter of the Baroque period active mainly in Foligno and The Uffizi Gallery holds a self-portrait. The Uffizi Gallery (Galleria degli Uffizi one of the oldest and most famous Art Museums in the world is housed in the Palazzo degli Uffizi, a Other pupils were Giacomo Semenza, Francesco Gessi, and Marco Bandinelli. Giovanni Giacomo Semenza ( July 18, 1580 - 1638 was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period Francesco Gessi ( 20 January, 1588 - 1649 was an Italian painter of the Baroque period active mainly in Bologna. Marco Bandinelli was an Italian painter of the Baroque period His themes are mostly biblical and mythological in subject. He painted few portraits; those of Sixtus V, Bernardino Cardinal Spada, and the so‑called Beatrice Cenci are among the most noticeable. Pope Sixtus V ( December 13, 1521 &ndash August 27, 1590) born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590 Bernardino Cardinal Spada ( April 21, 1594 - November 10, 1661) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and The identity of the Cenci portrait is very doubtful, since Beatrice Cenci was executed in Rome before Reni ever lived there and so could not have sat for the portrait. Many etchings are attributed to Guido Reni, some after his own paintings and some after other masters. They are spirited, in a light style of delicate lines and dots. Reni's technique was used by the Bolognese school and was the standard for Italian printmakers of his time. ^[7]

Reni died in Bologna in 1642.

He is buried with Elisabetta Sirani in the Rosary Chapel of the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna. Elisabetta Sirani (1638 &ndash 1665 was an Italian painter whose father was the painter Giovanni Andrea Sirani of the School of Bologna, and the The Basilica of San Domenico is one of the major churches in Bologna, Italy

Partial anthology of works

• Self-Portrait, Whitfield Fine Art[3]
• Callisto and Diana
• Crucifixion of St Peter, Vatican, Rome
• Christ Crucified, San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome
• Holy Trinity, Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, Rome
• Conception, Forlì
• Alms of St. Clovis Whitfield is an art historian and art dealer based in London, where he runs Whitfield Fine Art In Greek mythology, Callisto was a Nymph of Artemis. Transformed into a bear and set among the stars, she was the bear-mother of the San Lorenzo in Lucina is a basilica of Rome, dating back to the 4th century and dedicated to Saint Lawrence, Roman Deacon and Martyr Forlì ( Latin: Forum Livii) is a Comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy famed as the birthplace of the great painter Melozzo da Forlì Roch, Bologna
• Massacre of the Innocents, Bologna
• Pietà, Bologna
• Penitent Magdalene ca. 1635, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore [4]
• Lament over the Body of Christ, Chiesa dei Mendicanti, Bologna
• Ecce Homo, Gemaldegälerie, Dresden
• Saints Peter and Paul, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
• Assumption of the Virgin, Sant'Ambrogio, Genoa
• St. This article concerns the Milanese art gallery For the automobile see Alfa Romeo Brera. Paul the Hermit and St. Anthony in the Wilderness, Berlin
• Fortune, Capitol
• Samson Drinking from the Jawbone of an Ass
• Ariadne Capitoline Museums
• Atlanta and Hippomenes 1612 Prado, Madrid [5]
• Atlanta and Hippomenes 1622-25 Capodimonte, Naples [6]
• Madonna del Rosario, Pinacoteca, Bologna
• The Labors of Hercules, Louvre,
• The Suicide of Lucrezia ca. The Capitoline Museums ( Italian Musei Capitolini) are a group of art and archeological Museums in Piazza del Campidoglio 1625-40 São Paulo Art Museum, São Paulo
• Lucrezia and Cleopatra, Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome
• San Sebastiano, Pinacoteca, Bologna
• Saint Sebastian, Dulwich Picture Gallery; other versions are in the collections of the Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum in the UK, the Palazzo Rosso in Rome, the Capitoline Museum, the Louvre and at least 7 other known originals and multiple copies such as at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The São Paulo Museum of Art (in Portuguese Museu de Arte de São Paulo, or MASP) is an important fine-art museum located on Paulista Avenue São Paulo ( is the largest city in Brazil, with its metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world Dulwich Picture Gallery is an Art gallery in Dulwich, London. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 The Capitoline Museums ( Italian Musei Capitolini) are a group of art and archeological Museums in Piazza del Campidoglio The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( English: "Museum of Art History" in Vienna, housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, crowned Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria.
• Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Adoration of the Magi, Certosa di San Martino, Naples
• Judith, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama, United States

The Louvre contains twenty of his pictures, the National Gallery of London seven, and others once there have now been removed to other public collections. Dulwich Picture Gallery is an Art gallery in Dulwich, London. The Certosa di San Martino is a former monastery complex now a museum in Naples, southern Italy. The most interesting of the seven is the small Coronation of the Virgin, painted on copper. It was probably painted before the master left Bologna for Rome.

Gallery

David with the Head of Goliath (1605, Oil on canvas, 220 x 145 cm) at Musée du Louvre, Paris)

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
• Cavalli, Gian Carlo (ed. )Guido Reni exh. cat. Bologna 1954
• Pepper, Stephen, Guido Reni, Oxford 1984
• Guido Reni 1575-1642 (exhibition catalogue Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna; Los Angeles County Museum of art; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth) Bologna 1988
• Spear, Richard, The 'Divine' Guido: Religion, Sex, Money, and Art in the World of Guido Reni, New Haven and London, 1997
• Hansen, Morten Steen and Joaneath Spicer, eds. , Masterpieces of Italian Painting, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore and London, 2005
• "Printmaking". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 29 March 2007 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-28344>

References