Reni, Guido (1575-1642; Italian)

Pre-Felton works sometimes seen as related to Reni
Unknown (Italian 17C) after Reni (?) Repentance of St Peter {1889} NGV [PA]
Unknown (Italian 19C?) after Seghers Christ at the Column {1883} NGV [PA]

Religious images by or attributed to “the Divine Guido” (as the Bolognese painter became known) were widely admired during the 18^th and earlier 19^th centuries, and his continuing prestige in the pre-Felton era is reflected in the works noted above. However, his reputation was later savaged by Ruskin and others, and has only been recuperated relatively recently.

The NGV holds several other works definitely documented to Reni himself, acquired after 1904/5, notably a late female portrait (Felton Bequest, 1974).

Refs.

For the fluctuations in Reni’s posthumous reputation, see e.g. Haskell, Rediscoveries in Art (1980), refer Index; see also Richard Spear, The ‘divine’ Guido: Religion, sex, money and art in the world of Guido Reni, Yale University Press, 1997. For other works by or after Reni in the NGV, see Hoff (1995), pp.236-7, and the gallery’s current online catalogue