Guido Reni – painter

Bolognese artist who idealised Raphael

Guido Reni: a self-portrait executed in about
1603, currently in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome

The leading Baroque painter, Guido Reni, was born on this day in 1575 in Bologna, then part of the Papal States.

He was to become a dominant figure in the Bolognese school of painting, which emerged under the influence of the Carracci, a family of painters in Bologna. He was held in high regard because of the classical idealism of his portrayals of mythological and religious subjects.

Although his father, Daniele, wanted him to follow in his footsteps as a musician, Guido Reni passionately wanted to become an artist and was apprenticed to the Flemish painter Denis Calvaert when he was 10 years old. He focused on studying the works of Raphael, who, for the rest of his life, remained his ideal.

Reni went on to enter the academy led by Ludovico Carracci, the Accademia degli Incamminati - The academy of the newly-embarked - in Bologna. He was received into the guild of painters in the city in 1599 when he was nearly 24.

After this he divided his time between his studios in Bologna and Rome.

One of his most famous works, Crucifixion of St Peter, which is now in the Vatican Museum in Rome, was painted for Cardinal Aldobrandini in 1605.

Reni's dramatic depiction of the
Crucifixion of St Peter (1605)

Early in his career, Reni executed important commissions for Pope Paul V, painting frescoes in churches in Rome, including the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. One of his most celebrated works from this period is the Aurora fresco, painted between 1613 and 1614 for the large central hall of the Casino dell’Aurora, located in the grounds of the Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi.

Reni travelled to Naples in 1622 to paint frescoes on the ceiling of the chapel of San Gennaro in the Cathedral.

In 1630, the Barberini family commissioned from Reni a painting of the Archangel Michael for the Church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini. There was a rumour that Reni had represented Satan, crushed under St Michael’s foot, with the facial features of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pamphili, in revenge for a slight he had experienced from him.

Reni’s unique style was to paint religious and mythological subjects in light, soft colours, posing the figures gracefully, as in Atalanta and Hippomenes, executed in 1625.

Ancient Greek sculptures and the frescoes of Raphael were the main inspiration for his type of art.

He became one of the most famous painters of his day in Europe and was the model for other Italian Baroque artists who came later.

Reni died, aged 66, in 1642 in Bologna. He was buried in the Rosary Chapel of the Basilica of San Domenico. The painter Elisabetta Sirani, whose father had been Reni’s pupil, and who was considered by many to have been the artistic reincarnation of Reni, was later interred in the same tomb.

Reni painted frescoes in the Naples Duomo, also known
as the Cattedrale di San Gernnaro

Travel tip:

The Duomo in Naples, in Via Duomo, off Via Tribunali, was built over the ruins of two earlier Christian churches for Charles I of Anjou at the end of the 13th century. One of the main attractions inside is the Royal Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro, which contains Reni’s frescoes, along with many other precious works of art. The Duomo is also sometimes referred to as Cattedrale di San Gennaro. It is open to the public from 8.30am to 1.30pm and 2.30 to 8pm, Monday to Saturday, and 8.30am to 1.30pm and 4.30 to 7.30pm on Sundays.

The Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna, where Reni is
buried, contains several important works of art

Travel tip:

Guido Reni is buried in the Rosary Chapel of the 13th century Basilica of San Domenico in Piazza San Domenico in Bologna. The church is close to the Archiginnasio, once the main building of the University of Bologna. Behind the red-brick façade of the church, which was added as recently as 1910, lies a treasure house of art including works by Pisano, Michelangelo, Iacopo da Bologna and Guido Reni himself. In the Rosary Chapel, the most important work is the Mystery of the Rosary, a group of paintings worked on by Lodovico Carracci, Bartolomeo Cesi, Denis Calvaert, Lavinia Fontana, Guido Reni and Domenichino. The artist Elisabetta Sirani was later interred in the same tomb as Guido Reni.

More reading:

Elisabetta Sirani - talented young painter whose sudden death shocked Bologna

How Annibale Carracci made his mark in Rome

Domenichino - the Bolognese master who rivalled Raphaal

Also on this day:

1333: Florence devastated by catastrophic floods

1737: The inauguration of Teatro San Carlo in Naples

1964: The birth of crime writer Sandrone Dazieri


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Maria de’ Medici - Queen of France

Medici daughter who married Henri IV

Maria de' Medici became Queen of France
with the death of her husband

Maria de’ Medici, who became Queen of France after her marriage to King Henri IV, was born on this day in 1575 at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence.

After her husband was assassinated the day after his coronation, she ruled France as regent for her son, Louis, until he came of age.

Maria was the daughter of the grand duke of Tuscany, Francesco de’ Medici, and his wife, Joanna of Austria.

Henri had divorced his wife, Margaret, and married Maria in 1600 to obtain a large dowry that would help him pay his debts.

In 1601 Maria gave birth to a son, the future King Louis XIII, and then went on to bear a further five children for her husband.

However she resented her husband’s infidelities and he despised her friends from Florence, Concino Concini and his wife, Leonora.

After Henri was assassinated in 1610, the French parliament proclaimed Maria regent for her young son.

Guided by her favourite, Concini, who had become Marquis of Ancre, Maria reversed Henri’s anti-Spanish policy. She is also alleged to have squandered the country’s revenue and made humiliating concessions to its rebellious nobles.

Maria de' Medici was advised by the
Florentine Concino Concini

Even after Louis XIII came of age, Maria and Ancre were said to have ignored him and continued to rule in his name.

In 1617 Ancre was assassinated by someone working on behalf of Louis and Maria was sent to live in Blois.

After two years she managed to escape and her principal adviser, who was to become Cardinal de Richelieu, negotiated for her to set up a court at Angers.

After she was readmitted to the King’s council, Maria obtained a Cardinal’s hat for Richelieu and persuaded Louis to make him chief minister.

But Richelieu then enraged her by allying France with Protestant countries.

She demanded Richelieu’s dismissal but Louis stood by him and banished his mother to live in Compiegne. She fled to Brussels in 1631 and died destitute 11 years later.

Maria’s legacy was the Luxembourg Palace, which she had built in Paris. It was decorated with paintings by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens portraying the events of Maria’s life, which are considered among his finest work.

The Palazzo Pitti was originally the home of the banker
Luca Pitti in an effort to outshine the Medici

Travel tip:

Palazzo Pitti in Florence, where Maria was born, was originally built for the banker Luca Pitti in 1457 in the centre of Florence, to try to outshine the Medici family. They later bought it from his bankrupt heirs and made it their main residence in 1550. Today visitors can look round the richly decorated rooms and see treasures from the Medici collections.

The Ponte Vecchio linked the Uffizi with the Palazzo Pitti

Travel tip:

The Ponte Vecchio, which connects Palazzo Pitti with the city on the other side of the River Arno, was built in 1345 and is the oldest bridge remaining in Florence. The medieval workshops inhabited by butchers and blacksmiths were eventually given to goldsmiths and are still inhabited by jewellers today. The private corridor over the shops was designed by the architect, Vasari, to link the Palazzo Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti, via the Uffizi, allowing the Medici to move about between their residences without having to walk through the streets.



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