AFTER GUIDO RENI
“Bacco Bambino”
A well painted antique oil on panel portrait painting of Bacco Bambino. This is after the original painting by Guido Reni which is in the Galleria Palatina in Florence.
Some other examples are included at the end of the photos.
Frame: Presented in a gorgeous pierced gilt wooden frame with leaf and berry decoration.
Provenance: UK Private collection.
Condition: Painting and frame are both in very good condition.
Measurements: Painting measures 20 x 16cm and the overall frames 46 x 37cm.
Biography: Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Like many other Bolognese painters, Reni’s painting was thematic and eclectic in style.
He was one of the premier painters during the papacy of Paul V (Borghese). From 1607–1614, he was one of the painters patronized by the Borghese family.
In 1618, Reni traveled to Naples to complete a commission to paint a ceiling in a chapel of the San Gennaro. 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 after him). He passed briefly by Rome, but left that city abruptly, during the pontificate of Urban VIII, after being reprimanded by Cardinal Spinola.
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. He also contributed to the decoration of the Rosary Chapel in the same church with the Resurrection.
Reni died in Bologna in 1642. He is buried with Elisabetta Sirani in the Rosary Chapel of the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna.