About the Artist

Guido Reni (1575 Calvenzano near Bologna-1642 Bologna) studied art with the Dutch painter Denis Calvaert, who lived near Bologna from around 1584 on. Later he worked with Calvaert in the older artist's workshop. Around 1595 he joined the Academy of the Carracci in Bologna. Between 1600 and 1614 he visited Rome numerous times. After 1614 Reni lived in Bologna, where he remained for the rest of his life, aside from occasional short sojourns in Ravenna (1620), Naples (1622) and Rome (1627). After the death of Annibale Carraci in 1609, Guido Reni became the uncontested master of Baroque painting in Bologna. His oeuvre includes frescoes, altarpieces and mythological narratives as well as portraits. Significant works by the artist include The Murdered Children of Bethlehem, 1611, Pinacoteca Nazionle, Bologna; The Assumption of the Virgin, 1617, San Ambrogio, Genoa; and Portrait of the Artist's Mother, c. 1620, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna.