(Bologna 1575–1642)
The Madonna in prayer,
oil on canvas, 90.5 x 72.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Italo Fiumicelli, Bologna, 1980s;
Private European collection

Literature:
S. Pepper, Guido Reni’s practice of repeating compositions, in: Artibus et historiae, Vienna 1999, vol. 39, p. 39, illustrated p. 44 fig. 21 (as Guido Reni)

The present painting is registered in the Fototeca Zeri under no. 55878 (as Guido Reni).

We are grateful to Daniele Benati for confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a photograph.

The Madonna is represented half-length with her gaze turned upwards, her hands crossed over her heart as if in a moment of prayer. This composition by Guido Reni relates to other versions of the subject (see S. Pepper, Guido Reni. L’opera completa, Novara 1988, p. 300) including one formerly in a Roman private collection (Dorotheum, 13 October 2010, lot 323) and the other conserved in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. no. 795) prominently featured in Johan Zoffany’s famous view painting of The Tribuna of the Uffizi (1772-1778). Guido Reni’s studio also contributed to the diffusion of the composition and engravings that were made after it (see R. E. Spear, The Divine Guido: Religion, Sex, Money and Art in the World of Guido Reni, New Haven 1997, p. 69). Among these, one engraving by Domenico Cunego dated 1776 bears the inscription ‘Mater amabilis, ex tabula in aedibus Bolognetti’ which refers to a lost canvas that belonged in the Bolognetti collection in Bologna.

Federico Zeri proposed a date of circa 1635 to 1640 for the present painting, based on the soft, light quality of the brushstrokes which characterise works from Guido Reni’s mature period. Indeed, during his final years, Reni’s style of painitng and handling of paint became increasingly fluid (see C. Malvasia, Felsina pittrice. Vite de’ pittori bolognesi, Bologna 1678).

Guido Reni, called the ‘divine’, was born in Bologna in 1575 where he studied with Denijs Calvaert (circa 1540-1619) and frequented the Accademia degli Incamminati founded by the Carracci. He moved to Rome in 1600 where he attained the greatest acclaim and became one of the most successful and celebrated painters of seventeenth century Italy. His reputation in the 18th century can be compared to that of the great Renaissance masters at the time and his works were especially appreciated by the great English collectors of the period.