Follower of Guido Reni

Follower of GUIDO RENI (Calvenzano di Vergato, Bologna, 1575 - Bologna, 1642); 18th century.
"Dolorosa".
Gouache on vellum.
It presents repainting.
Size: 11 x 9 cm; 12 x 10 cm (frame).
Devotional work in miniature where the author presents us with the Virgin Mary bust-length, in the foreground and captured at great size, occupying most of the pictorial surface. It is a monumental figure, worked with great delicacy and directly illuminated by a clear, uniform, classical light. Mary stands out against a neutral, flat, dark background, illuminated around her head by the halo of golden light. Formally, this work is dominated by the influence of Guido Reni, the undisputed master of Roman-Bolognese classicism, who was undoubtedly the best of the three. Closely linked to the Carracci family and to the city of Bologna, they all had a similar career. They trained in Bologna with Denys Calvaert, and then moved on to the Accademia degli Incamminati, directed by Ludovico Carraci. In 1600 Reni arrived in Rome, where he worked with Annibale Carracci in the Galleria Farnese. His best period began in these years; in 1609, on Annibale's death, Reni became the head of the classicist school. In the city he was the protégé of Scipione Borghese, the future Pope Paul V, for whom the painter produced one of his most important works, "La Aurora" (Palazzo Rospigliosi).