Guido Reni

Baroque master Guido Reni (1575-1642) became the most famous Italian painter of his generation and the dominant figure of the Bolognese School. Born in Bologna, he was the only child of a singer and instrumentalist who worked for the local Signoria. He entered the workshop of Flemish painter Denis Calvaert at age 10, then moved to the Accademia degli Incamminati led by the Carracci brothers. There he formed the nucleus of the Bolognese school alongside Albani and Domenichino. During his early years in Rome, the fame of Caravaggio overwhelmed him. His "Crucifixion of St. Peter" (c. 1603) attempts to imitate Caravaggio's rough types and deep shadows while maintaining Bolognese classicism.

By 1609, Reni had abandoned this uneasy compromise and replaced Annibale Carracci as the leader of Baroque classicism in Rome. His "Aurora" fresco (1614) in the Casino of the Pallavicini-Rospigliosi palace is famous for its crisp, Hellenistic elegance. The Barberini family commissioned his "Archangel Michael" (1636) for Santa Maria della Concezione, an image that sparked a legend: some claimed Reni had painted the devil with the features of Cardinal Pamphilj as revenge for a slight. In Bologna, he ran two studios teeming with nearly 200 pupils. A compulsive gambler, Reni was often in financial distress despite steady demand for his religious paintings. His late works show a distinctive silvery glow with ice blue, apple green, pink, and pearly grey. His influence spread through his many pupils and reached Spanish Baroque artists like Jusepe de Ribera and Murillo, as well as French painters Le Sueur, Le Brun, and Greuze. The Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna holds the largest collection of his work.