Saint Michael the Archangel
Workshop of Guido Reni (1575 - 1642)
First half of the 17th century
Oil on canvas (132 x 90 cm. - In frame 143 x 102 cm.)
Full details of the work (click HERE)
The Saint Michael the Archangel depicted in this splendid painting closely follows the work created by Guido Reni in 1635 for the Church of the Capuchins, in the heart of Via Veneto in Rome. The church was built through the donation of Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1569-1646), brother of Urban VIII, for the order of the Capuchin friars; it was the cardinal himself who commissioned the altarpiece from Guido Reni who, at the height of his artistic maturity and fame, had by then settled in Bologna, where he created the canvas and sent it to Rome.
The canvass presented, considering the period of its execution and its good quality, is certainly the work of an artist from Reni's prolific workshop, active in the first half of the 17th century, presumably one of his skilled collaborators.
Saint Michael the Archangel, engaged in the fight against Evil, is depicted as a youth of rare beauty, strong and delicate at the same time, who, with his sword drawn, drives an angry devil back to hell, whose head he crushes with his foot.
The soft, colored drapery envelops the angel's body in intense classicism within a balanced composition capable of highlighting the celestial beauty of the angelic face, magnificently rendered in our version as well.
Guido Reni traveled to Rome in 1602, after a long period of training in Bologna to enrich his artistic repertoire: here, as in his Bologna, he was already renowned as an interpreter of the taste of the most influential cultural circles, gaining the patronage of great figures such as Popes Paul V, Urban VIII, and Scipio Borghese.
Great was the recognition and esteem of his contemporaries, and the painting immediately achieved incredible success, also thanks to the controversy it stirred: a well-known rumor of the time suggested that Reni had given Satan's face the likeness of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pamphili (future Pope Innocent X), with whom the painter had had strong disagreements.
Guido Reni's cunning was to exploit the historical rivalry between two of Rome's most influential families in the 17th century, the Barberini and the Pamphili, for his personal revenge, while simultaneously gifting his work with sudden celebrity.
Very good condition, with scattered restorations on the painted surface.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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