#guidoreni

Interview: Dr. Bastian Eclercy on Guido Reni at the Städel Museum, Frankfurt

Misunderstood, neglected, forgotten. The Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany is rediscovering one of the star painters of the Italian Baroque in a landmark exhibition: GUIDO RENI. The Divine. In his day, Reni (1575-1642) was one of the most successful and celebrated painters in all of Europe, coveted by the most important patrons, including the Borghese Pope Paul V, the Duke of Mantua, and the Queen of England. In this interview, James Blake Wiener speaks to curator Dr. Bastian Eclercy about the exhibition and Guido Reni’s brilliance as one the greatest artists of the Baroque era.

David and Goliath, 1610, Guido Reni

Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, Guido Reni, 1635, Art Institute of Chicago: European Painting and Sculpture

In this large canvas, Guido Reni, a leading seventeenth-century Bolognese painter, depicted one of the New Testament’s more macabre stories. Salome, the daughter of Queen Herodias, so pleased her stepfather, Herod Antipas, by dancing at his birthday feast that he promised to grant her any wish. Prompted by her vengeful mother, Salome asked for the head of the prophet John the Baptist, whom Herod had imprisoned for denouncing his marriage. The painting illustrates the moment when the head of the saint is presented to the beautiful young woman. Highly selective in his palette, Reni depicted this gory event with rhythmic grace, soft modeling, and elegant remove. No blood drips from John’s head, and the color and illumination are cool; indeed, there is no specific setting, nor are any strong emotions depicted. In this late work, the handling of the figures is broad, especially in the legs of the young page and the feet of Salome, which are only summarily brushed in. This raises the central, unresolved question of much of Reni’s late work: whether or not this picture should be considered finished. Louise B. and Frank H. Woods Purchase Fund Size: 248.5 × 174 cm (97 3/4 × 68 1/2 in.) Medium: Oil on canvas

Bust of a Woman Wearing a Turban, Guido Reni, c. 1640–42, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Paintings

Oval canvas, female figure holding a bowl. When Guido Reni died in 1642, he was the most famous artist in Italy, and his sought-after paintings became even more valuable, including those left unfinished. This late work was likely among the incomplete canvases in his studio. As it passed from one princely collection to another before coming here, the woman’s identity continued to be a source of much speculation. A cardinal identified her as Saint Lucy holding a bowl containing her eyes, extracted during her martyrdom. To others, her turban suggested that she was a sibyl, an ancient Roman prophetess, shown reading signs and foretelling omens; or perhaps she was Circe, the sorceress who turned the Greek hero Odysseus’s companions into pigs. A more recent identification is Porcia, the wife of Brutus, Julius Caesar’s assassin, who killed herself by swallowing burning coals. Unfortunately, the artist’s death before the picture’s completion prevents any definitive conclusion about this young woman’s identity. Recent conservation of this picture was made possible by a generous contribution from an anonymous patron through Mia’s Adopt-a-Painting program. Size: 21 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. (54.61 x 44.45 cm) (canvas) Medium: Oil on canvas

The Immaculate Conception by Guido Reni, European Paintings

Victor Wilbour Memorial Fund, 1959 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Medium: Oil on canvas

The Holy Family with Two Angels, Guido Reni, c. 1590, Harvard Art Museums: Prints

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund Size: plate: 22.4 x 15.4 cm (8 13/16 x 6 1/16 in.)