.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Stephen Pepper first published this picture in the Italian, revised edition of his catalogue raisonné of the work of Guido Reni (D.S. Pepper, op. cit., 1988). He identifies the picture with that recorded in 1678 by the famous biographer of Bolognese artists, Carlo Cesare Malvasia, in his Felsina pittrice (loc. cit.). Not only does Malvasia write that it was painted for Fioravanti, a private patron, but he also recounts that while Reni worked on it Ludovico Carracci was instructing him how to paint babies so that their soprabbondante grassezza (overabundant fatness) would be apparent (ibid.). At this point Annibale interrupts his cousin Ludovico: 'taci...non gl'insegnar tanto a costui... che un giorno ne saprá più di tutti noi' ('Hold your tongue... don't teach that fellow so much... for one day he will know more than all of us'; ibid.). It is unlikely that this picture dates from as early as the end of the summer of 1595 when Annibale left for Rome, but the account expresses Malvasia's view that Annibale was jealous of Reni.
Even though Malvasia's account of the presence of the Carracci in Reni's workshop when he worked on this picture might not be entirely true, the composition does demonstrate the considerable impact their art had on the young Reni. Annibale's influence on Reni is particularly apparent in the depiction of the transparent skin and the features of Saint Hyacinth, reminiscent of Annibale's Mocking of Christ of circa 1696, now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna (D. Posner, Annibale Carracci, London, 1971, pp. 38-39, no. 89, illustrated). Ludovico's representation of the features of the saint in his Vision of Saint Hyacinth from 1594, now in the Louvre, is much harder with a strong chiaroscuro (see the catalogue of the exhibition Ludovico Carracci, ed. A. Emiliani, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna, pp. 87-89, illustrated in colour). Yet the soprabbondante grassezza of the Christ Child which Malvasia mentions (see above) is similar in both Ludovico's and Reni's pictures. Furthermore, the treatment of Saint Catherine's hair and the densely folded drapery of her dress, contrasting with the Virgin's heavy red garment and her downward looking eyes are comparable to Ludovico's Dream of Saint Catherine in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (ibid., p. 70, no. 33, illustrated in colour).
Stephen Pepper points out that the numerous pentimenti in the position of, for example, the Virgin's head and the hands of Saint Catherine may reflect a practice of the Incamminati, the Carracci academy. The three Carracci would discuss a picture while working on it in order to make amendments to the composition. This practice must have been extended to their pupils in the academy, including Guido Reni.
The luminosity of the picture and the monumentality of the composition foreshadow Reni's later work, as do the upward-looking eyes with their distinct highlights, which became a trademark of the artist's work.
Even though Malvasia's account of the presence of the Carracci in Reni's workshop when he worked on this picture might not be entirely true, the composition does demonstrate the considerable impact their art had on the young Reni. Annibale's influence on Reni is particularly apparent in the depiction of the transparent skin and the features of Saint Hyacinth, reminiscent of Annibale's Mocking of Christ of circa 1696, now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna (D. Posner, Annibale Carracci, London, 1971, pp. 38-39, no. 89, illustrated). Ludovico's representation of the features of the saint in his Vision of Saint Hyacinth from 1594, now in the Louvre, is much harder with a strong chiaroscuro (see the catalogue of the exhibition Ludovico Carracci, ed. A. Emiliani, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna, pp. 87-89, illustrated in colour). Yet the soprabbondante grassezza of the Christ Child which Malvasia mentions (see above) is similar in both Ludovico's and Reni's pictures. Furthermore, the treatment of Saint Catherine's hair and the densely folded drapery of her dress, contrasting with the Virgin's heavy red garment and her downward looking eyes are comparable to Ludovico's Dream of Saint Catherine in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (ibid., p. 70, no. 33, illustrated in colour).
Stephen Pepper points out that the numerous pentimenti in the position of, for example, the Virgin's head and the hands of Saint Catherine may reflect a practice of the Incamminati, the Carracci academy. The three Carracci would discuss a picture while working on it in order to make amendments to the composition. This practice must have been extended to their pupils in the academy, including Guido Reni.
The luminosity of the picture and the monumentality of the composition foreshadow Reni's later work, as do the upward-looking eyes with their distinct highlights, which became a trademark of the artist's work.