Guido Reni`s Painting of the Immaculate Conception

Guido
of
Reni's
Painting
the
ImmaculateConception
H 0 WA R D H I B B A R D
Professorof Art Hzstory,ColumbiaUniversity
G U I DO R E NI is hardly among the Italian paintersmost popular with today's art
lovers. Yet Reni was once so esteemed that a sensitive contemporary biographer,
G. B. Passeri, could write that he was "the noblest, most majestic painter who ever
lived- not only in my own opinion, but by common consent." Reni's name was long
a household word - even the author of Fanny Hill invoked Guido as a synonym for
extreme delicacy and refinement of color, and Stendhal found a painting by Reni to
have "absolumentla sensibilitea la Mozart." But times were changing and Reni fared
poorly with writerswhose judgment was chargedwith Protestant morality. For Ruskin
he was prominent in the "School of Errors and Vices," and not long ago Bernard
Berenson wrote, "Our grandfathers were thrilled by Guido Reni's ecstatic visages,
whose silly emptiness now rouses our laughter." A painter who can earn such praiseand such opprobrium- deservesattention. The Metropolitan Museum'spainting presses
the issue to the utmost: Reni's large Immaculate Conception (Figure i) is precisely
the kind of image that his admirersloved and his detractors loathed. It is also a documented work of historical importance and high quality.
Guido Reni, who was born in Bologna in i575 and died there in i642, was first
apprenticed to Denis Calvaert, an excellent Flemish mannerist who had settled in
Bologna. By the time he was twenty, Reni had moved to the more modern studio of
the Carracci,and he was doubtless the most gifted of their pupils. About I599, shortly
after leaving the Carraccistudio, he painted his first Assumption of the Virgin (Figure 2), which has all the qualities of the Carraccigrand manner. Its power of design
makes it clear that in his early twenties Reni already rivaled his teachers. Soon after
painting this picture he went to Rome, where he changed his style rapidly, influenced
by Caravaggio but also attracted by antique works and their High Renaissancecounterparts. Reni prospered; from i6o8 until 1614 he was the leading painter in Rome,
executing a brilliant series of fresco decorations in the Vatican, the Quirinal, and Sta.
Maria Maggiore. His Roman career was crowned by the linear poetry of his famous
1. The ImmaculateConception,by
Guido Reni (1575-1642),
Italian. z627. Oil on canvas,
105 x 7212 inches. Victor
WilbourMemorialFund, 59.32
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Aurorapaintedon the vault of a diningloggia
in CardinalBorghese'sgardenon the Quirinal
hill (Figure3),
whichalone
Is worth a tour to Rome, although
no morea
Remnantwere thereof the old world's
sole throne.
Byron, Don Juan, xiv:40
2.
20
And yet, althoughReni waswidelyacclaimed
the best painterin Italy, he was not content.
Romehadstrengthened,deepened,andvaried
his style, but he seemsnot to haverelishedthe
challengesand competitionof life in the art
capitalof the world.He hatedfrescopainting,
the mediumof his great Romandecorations.
Other, psychologicallycomplexreasonsmay
also have influencedhis retreatfrom Rome:
his neuroticandeven psychotictendenciesare
well documentedby his biographer,
CarloCesareMalvasia.Reni left late in I614 to return
homeand, quite literally,to mother;and Bologna remainedhis home until his death.
A large Assumptionin Genoa (Figure 4),
paintedin I616-I617, showshow thoroughly
Bolognese Reni again became once he was
back. It is a matureand powerfulvariantof
his early,pre-RomanAssumptionin Pieve di
Cento (Figure2). The amplefiguresare less
manneredand the compositionis if anything
spatiallysimplerthan the earlierpicture. In
both picturesthe clouds recede as they rise
aroundthe Virginandchangecolorfromgray
to gold, a symbolof her transitionfromearth
to heaven.
In the decade between 1617 and i627the yearsbetweenthe GenoaAssumptionand
the Museum'sImmaculateConception- Reni
stopped painting in fresco and increasingly
avoided the demandsof complex,large-scale
composition.In the years around 1620 he
painted a numberof canvasesrich in emotional variety: The Rape of Dejanira(Figure 5) for the Duke of Mantua,and religious
The Assumption of the Virgin, by
for severalpatrons.Theseworksshow
Guido Reni. About I599. Oil on canvas. pictures
a virilestyle influencedby the greatVenetians
Pieve di Cento, Sta. Maria Maggiore,
that may owe somethingto his competition
Bologna. Photograph:A. Villani,
with the vigorousyoung Guercino. (In the
Bologna
end,however,it wasGuercinowhosuccumbed
to Reni, as the visitorto the Museumcan see
in Guercino'ssplendidlate work hangingon
the wall oppositeReni'spainting.)But in the
mid-i62os Reni's art underwenta decisive
changeof direction.He beganto concentrate
on singlefigures- Judith,Lucretia,the Magdalen-shown just beforeor after a climactic
event. His ostensiblemodelswereNiobidsand
other antiquitieshe had studiedin Rome.
Among Reni's preferredsubjects during
theseyearswerethe Virginof the Assumption
and of the ImmaculateConception,whichhe
renderedasvariantson a singletheme.Around
I623, apparentlywithout much transitional
experimentation,Reni isolatedthe Virginon
the cloudsfrom the largergroupin the traditionalinterpretationof the Assumption(Figure 4). The firstof a seriesof similarpaintings
is the ImmaculateConceptionin Forli (Figure
6). It is basedon a pictureby Denis Calvaert,
Reni's first master (Figure 7). The formula
was repeatedwith variationsin the Assumption that was set up on the high altarin the
Emilia,justoutparishchurchof Castelfranco
side Bologna,in May of I627 (Figure I).
The Metropolitan'sImmaculateConception is a refinedversionof the picturein Forli.
It is beyondreasonabledoubt the paintingor-
deredby the Spanishambassador
to Romefor
the Infantaof Spainandexecutedduringthe
latterpartof I 627,whileReniwastemporarily
in Rome to paintan altarpiecefor St. Peter's.
accountin MalAccordingto a circumstantial
vasia'sFelsinapittrice,the ambassador
continually pesteredReni for a picture, but Reni
would not be hurried.When he finishedthe
ambassador's
pictureandappliedforpayment,
he wastold to wait, whereuponReni sent the
workto Bolognain a fit of piquethat wasnot
altogetherunusual.This hasty action probably threatenedto causean internationalincident since relationsbetweenSpainand the
papacywerealreadystrained.CardinalFrancescoBarberini,nephewof Pope UrbanVIII,
had to send for the paintingand have it carried back. Malvasia'sstory is confirmedby
recordsin the Barberiniarchivesthat document a payment of fourteen scudi in December I627 to two portersfor carrying"il
di GuidoReni"(the
QuadrodellaConcezz[io]ne
picture of the [Immaculate]Conceptionby 3. Aurora, by Guido Reni.
Guido Reni) from Bologna to Rome. Pre1613-1614. Fresco. Palazzo
sumablythe picturewas then sent to Spain,
Rospigliosi-Pallavicini,Casino
where it seems to have arousedlittle comdell'Aurora, Rome. Photograph:
ment; a lateraccountindicatesthat it was in
Brogi-Art ReferenceBureau
21
the Cathedralof Seville, but old guidebooks
do not list it. Earlyin the nineteenthcentury
the picture is reportedto have made its way
from Spainto Franceand thence to an English privatecollection.LordFrancisEgerton,
later Earl of Ellesmere,acquiredthe ImmaculateConceptionin the I83os, and it adorned
BridgewaterHouseforoveronehundredyears
until the Ellesmeresalein 1946. Contraryto
persistentrumor,the pictureis in decentcondition. Its somewhat wrinkled surface was
causedby the high heat of a fireset by bombs
that hit BridgewaterHouse during the last
war. This unfortunatebut relatively minor
defect is not noticeablewhen the picture is
viewed froman appropriatedistance.
It would be hard to decide which aspect of
Reni'sImmaculateConception- style or content - is moreremotefrom the modernviewer. In any successfulwork of art the two are,
of course,united. Since modernwriterstend
to discussReni'spaintingsalmostexclusively
froma stylisticpoint of view, however,I shall
beginwith a note aboutthe subjectandmeaning of the Museum'spainting.
4. TheAssumptionof the Virgin,by
GuidoReni. Finished16I7. Oil on
canvas.S. Ambrogio,Genoa.
A. Villani,Bologna
Photograph:
5. TheRapeof Dejanira,by Guido
Reni.Finished162i. Oil on canvas.
A.
Louvre,Paris.Photograph:
Villani,Bologna
22
6. TheImmaculateConception,
by
GuidoReni.About1623. Oil on
canvas.S. Biagio,Forli.Photograph:
- ArtReference
Anderson
Bureau
of the Virgin,by
7. TheAssumption
Denis Calvaert(about I540o-I6I),
Flemish. Possiblyabout I57I. Oil
on canvas.Pinacoteca,Bologna.
Photograph:
Alinari- Art Reference
Bureau
Whateverelse Reni may have been trying
to do, he was certainlyattempting to paint
a pictureof the Virginthat would satisfyhis
own vision of heaven.Reni was devout, and
his faith centeredon the Virgin.We hear of
a miraculouscure performedon Reni by a
paintingof the Madonna;andReni'sAssumption in Castelfranco(FigureI i) wasthe agent
of a miracleon the day of its unveiling.All of
this is very far from most of our experiences
today. To get an idea of the man and the
frameof mind in whichhe paintedwe cannot
do better than to quote Malvasia,who knew
andadmiredhim for qualitiesthatwouldnow
call for psychiatrictreatment:
Whenhe wasa little boy, for sevenyears
straighthe heardknockingat hisdoorevery
night of the Christmasseason,and . . . for
severalyears he awoke each night to see
abovehis bed a kind of light the size of an
egg.... He wasmost devoted to Our Lady
the Virgin Mary and in his youth went
every Saturdayto worshipher image on
the Monte della Guardiaand every evening infallibly,as long as he lived, worshiped
in SantaMariadella Vita. For this reason
23
many believed - I don't know if with overzealous thought-that since he too was a
virgin that she had deigned to appear to
him. Certainly no painter of any century
knew how to show her so utterly beautiful
and modest; and it is unbelievable that anyone ever will again.
Mary's Immaculate Conception became
church dogma only in 1854, but the idea goes
back to the Middle Ages. Its popularity derives from Mary's traditional role as mediator
between God and man. Mirella Levi D'Ancona wrote in her pioneering book on the
iconography of the Immaculate Conception
that Mary
embodied the idea of feminine beauty, purity and love and was considered as a complement to the work of the Lord in the
salvation of mankind. The first sin had been
committed with the help of a woman, and
only another woman who had known no
sin could be chosen by the Lord to become
His Mother and give birth to the instrument of salvation, Christ. The devotion to
the Virgin Immaculate is a sublimation of
femininity in its two aspects of maidenly
purity and motherly love. Every woman
may have either of these qualities, but Mary
alone of all women embodied both together.
It took centuries-as may perhaps be imagined - for theologians to settle the controversy
over how, and in what sense, Mary was Immaculate, that is, free from original sin at her
conception, as opposed to her sinless conception of Christ. Abelard had identified Mary
with the loved one in the Song of Songs:"Thou
art all beautiful, my love, and there is no spot
in thee," but belief in Mary's Immaculate
Conception, with its delicate combination of
popular credulity and theological nicety, was
not favored by the learned doctors of Rome.
Although popular demand had finally forced
grudging papal acknowledgment of the existence of a philosophical problem late in the
fifteenth century, the subject might never
have had much vogue in art had not the Protestant Reformation made Mariolatry an issue
and the "Immacolata" a point of pride. The
idea of the Immaculate Conception was par24
ticularly popular in Spain, where it had been
the subject of an enormous controversy in the
second decade of the seventeenth century.
Various Spanish factions pressured the pope
to rule on the status of the concept, but no
definitive judgment was laid down, despite a
noticeable preference for the wording "The
Conception of the Immaculate Virgin" over
"The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin."
Nevertheless, under Urban VIII Barberini
(I623-1644) there was some evidence of papal
indulgence for the view that Mary had been
immaculately conceived: the Barberini subsidized the new Capuchin church dedicated
to "Santa Maria della Concezione" and Urban
VIII even laid the cornerstone late in I626.
After this date Roman artists increasingly
painted the subject: Lanfranco, Poussin, and
others produced versions late in the i62os.
Back in the mid-sixteenth century, early
in the Counter Reformation, artists were still
not sure how to depict the Immaculate Conception. Giorgio Vasari gives us an explicit
account of his own troubles in 1540, when he
first painted the subject (Figure 8). It was no
easy matter, he wrote, and, after seeking the
advice of learned men he finally painted it in
this way:
In the middle of the picture I put the
tree of original sin and at its roots, as the
first sinners against God's commandments,
I showed Adam and Eve, nude and bound.
Then I showed Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David, and succeeding kings -all tied by both hands with the
exception of Samuel and St. John the Baptist, who are tied by only one hand since
they were sanctified in the womb. Wound
around the trunk I showed the old serpent,
and since he is half human, his hands are
tied behind his back. Above, the glorious
Virgin rests one foot on his head, the other
on a moon; she is clothed with the sun and
crowned with twelve stars. The Virgin is
held in air by a glory of nude angels, illuminated by the rays coming from her. The
rays pass through the leaves of the tree and
give light to the captives, seeming to loose
their bonds by their virtue and grace. In
the sky at the top of the picture are two
putti holding banners on which is written:
Quos Evae culpa damnavit,Mariaegratia
solvit[Thosewhom the sin of Eve damned,
Mary's Grace saved].... It did not satisfy me.
Such a picture, so explicit in its theological
complexitybut so confusingas an image,was
not apt to attract the faithful. During the
next half centurypainterssimplifiedand refinedthe iconography,and the subjectbegan
to take on an important role in CounterReformationart (see Figure io). Mary'srepresentationas the Immacolatabecame stabilizedas the greatwonderin heavenrevealed
to St. Johnon Patmos:"A womanrobedwith
the sun, beneathher feet the moon, and on
her heada crownof twelve stars."The identificationwith MarywasinevitablesinceJohn
goes on to say that "Shegave birthto a male
child, who is destined to rule all nations."
Theseattributesbecamestandardfor the ImmaculateVirgin,and the Madonnawasoften
shownImmaculateeven whenseenin a vision
of a differentsort (Figure9).
In its formal representationthe Immaculate Conceptionbecame the counterpartof
the Assumption:one showsMary beforeher
life on earth,the otherafterit. This accounts
for the similarity in iconographybetween
Reni's Assuntasand his Immacolatas.Even
the samescripturalallusionsservedfor bothon the framebelowReni'sAssuntain CastelfrancoEmiliais inscribeda passagefrom Judith: Tu honorificentia
populi nostri; these
wordsare repeatedduring the massfor December8, the feast of the ImmaculateConception: "Thou art the glory of Jerusalem,
thou art the joy of Israel,thou art the honor
of our people. . . Thou art all fair, Mary,
and there is in thee no stain." Reni's iconic
solutionbecamea standardfor laterartiststo
follow.He reducedboth the Assumptionand
the ImmaculateConceptionto a minimumof
externalreferencesand symbols,refiningthe
worshipof Mary to its essentials.
In the Museum'spaintingMary standson
the crescentmoon,handspressedtogetherand
eyes raisedin adoration.(The upwardgaze, 8. The Immaculate Conception,by Giorgio Vasari
a constantin Reni's religiousworks,derives
(5151/-574), Italian. 1540. Oil on panel. SS.
fromRaphael'sSt. Cecilia,a pictureReni had
Apostoli, Florence.Photograph:Alinari - Art
copiedas a young man and which was then,
ReferenceBureau
25
9. Madonna Appearingto Sts.
Jerome and Francis ("Madonna
degli Scalzi"), by Ludovico
Carracci (1555-6I
9), Italian.
Oil on canvas. Pinacoteca,
Bologna. Photograph:A. Villani,
Bologna
as now, in Bologna.)Mary is flankedby two
angelswhose bodiesform the sidesof a large
triangleextendingup to her head.This general schemeis closerto Calvaert's(Figure7)
than is any of Reni'sotherversions.The Museum'spainting also bearsa resemblanceto
other worksof the Counter-Reformation
period, such as ScipionePulzone'sImmacolata
(Figure io). Reni may have known this pie-
tistic and hieraticcomposition,but his paintings of the samesubjectwere animatedwith
a seicentohumanitythatcheerseven the Metropolitan'srelativelychilly picture.In Reni's
work,Maryis crownedby the customarydiadem of twelve stars;behind her, the bright
light of paradisecreatesa mandorlaaround
which angel heads seem to take shape like
26
cloud pictures- againderivedfrom Raphael.
In the paintingin Forll (Figure 6), Mary is
closelysurroundedby the cloudsand angels,
but in the CastelfrancoAssumption(Figure
ii) the space aroundMary was widened to
make room for her expansivegesture. This
moreextensivespaceis kept in the New York
paintingeven though the gestureis changed.
The deep goldenlight that playsso largea
rolein all thesepaintingsby Reni seemsto be
an equivalentto the traditionalgold ground
of medievalreligiouspanels.It emphasizesthe
other medievalizingqualitiesof the Metropolitan'spicture:its lackof depth, its formal,
symboliccomposition,its insistenceon threes
and twelves.
Like the ariasof an opera(an art that was
rapidlydevelopingat just this time), Reni's
new use of color beginningin the mid-I62os
wasembroidery- the enrichmentof a theme.
Abandoningthe Venetianwarmthof his pictures done a few yearsearlier(Figure5, for
example),he adopted an increasinglyblond
tonality,usingcolorsthat arebrightandclear
on the largerforms, delicate in subordinate
areas,sometimeselusivelychanging.The Virgin traditionallywearsintense blue and red:
hereherdeep bluemantlefallsovera pinkishviolet robe.DuringtheseyearsReni beganto
push the closeharmonyanddifferentiationof
relatedhues fartherthan any contemporary
painterwaswillingto go, as can be seenin the
light blue of the girdle against the Virgin's
robe and in the pale draperyof the angel at
the left, where shadowsbecome the lightest
of violetsand the fleshreflectsgreenishtones.
This cool and fragileharmonyof blues, yellows,andgreensis set off violentlyby the hot
gold of the glowing empyreanbehind. The
uniquelysubtlecolorcontrastsin the drapery
are accompaniedby a treatmentof fleshthat
becomesbrittle and even porcelaneousin its
delicately precise finish, without either the
humanwarmthandaccessibilityof Reni'searlier figuresor the softly transparent,broader
handlingof his latest works.The Museum's
paintingis perhapsthe apogee of this peculiarlyremotephasein Reni'squestfor visionary perfection.
Reni'stendencyto stabilizeand then elab-
orateiconographicthemesis continuedin two
finalAssumptions.One of these (Figure I2),
sold by Reni in I637, is a free version of the
Castelfrancopicture.Althoughpaintedby an
assistantor pupil,it must have beendesigned
by Reni, since the draperyforeshadowshis
ultimateinterpretation,whichis now in Munich (Figure 13). Finished in
I642,
this pic-
ture is apparentlythe last to have been sent
from Reni'sstudio beforehis death. It closes
the seriesbegunalmostforty-fiveyearsearlier
with the altar in Pieve di Cento (Figure2).
In the Munich picture Mary emergeslike a
Venusfromher cowrieshell of blue drapery.
The gracious,bonelessangelspay homageto
Reni'smasterLudovicoCarracci,but the mellifluousfall of draperyis his own. Paintedon
silk, an innovationthat Reni hoped would
give his picturesaddedpermanence,thisgreat
cantilenais shapedby the looselybrushedoutlines of his late manner.Lackingthe exquisitely diaphanouscolorationof the Metropolitan'sImmacolata,withoutinterestin textures,
it combinesthe blond tonalityand the clear
impact of the Metropolitan'spaintingwith
a freedomof movementthat was noticeably
Romein thisveryperiod.Whiletheseyounger
men were enliveningpainting through the
invigoratingstudy of AnnibaleCarracci,the
Venetians,and antiquity,Reni turnedto the
rigid compositionsof Scipione Pulzone and
the femininegraceof Calvaert.Reni's introvertedattentionto the purificationof his art
producedthe increasinglyblondtonalitythat
may have exertedan influenceon paintersof
the i63os in Rome; Reni himself must have
been out of sympathywith Romanpainting
in those years. After paintingour Immaculate Conceptionhe destroyedwhat little he
had begunof his altarpiecein St. Peter's,refunded his advance,and went back to Bologna- apparentlyfor good.
But it would be misleadingto leave the
missing in the archaizing pictures of I627.
As we look backon Reni's career,he seems
to have been destinedto develop a personal
and idiosyncraticstyle that could not have
been pursuedin the officialenvironmentof
Rome. His brief return there in i627, during
which he produced our Immacolata,must
from
haveconfirmedhissenseof estrangement
the Romanscene.At the very momentof the
birth of Roman baroquepaintingReni was
undergoinghis most profoundstylisticcrisis,
whichhe met by revivinga heraldicand relatively linearstyle. If we comparehis Rape of
Dejanira of i62I with the Metropolitan's pic-
ture (Figures5 and i), we see the amazing
changeof directionin his art, whichtook him
froma commandingpositionin the neo-Venetian tendency to a style that seems almost
its antithesis.The same contrastcan also be
foundbetweenthe Immacolataand the freely
brushed,complex,recessional,and asymmetricalart of NicholasPoussinand AndreaSacchi (see Figure I4), who were working in
27
I o. The Immaculate Conception
with Saints and Donor, by
Scipione Pulzone (before I5501598), Italian. Before 1584.
Oil on canvas. Capuchinchurch,
Ronciglione.Photograph:
GabinettoFotografico
Nazionale, Rome
i I. The Assumption of the Virgin,
by Guido Reni. Finished1627.
Oil on canvas. Parishchurch,
CastelfrancoEmilia. Photograph: U. Orlandini,Modena
matterthereandsay that Reni left the mainstreamand revertedto an earlierstyle. Picturessuchasoursareextraordinarily
eloquent
above an altar, with far greaterimmediacy
and mesmerizingpowerthan the machinesof
Reni's previousperiod. In this Immacolata,
Mary'smouth,like thoseof the angels,is partially open, as if voicinga prayeror supplication. The revelationof humanwarmthand
frailty- the humanizationof the divine- is a
characteristicof seventeenth-centuryart and
Reni was one of the innovators.Reni's lifesizefiguresstandin a shallowspacethat helps
to induce an empathetic responseat once
human and religious.GianlorenzoBernini,
the presidinggenius of the Roman baroque,
admiredReni'sfiguresand even appropriated
themforhisownuse. (Therewasa livelygiveand-takebetweenpaintersandsculptorsof the
period; Bernini'ssculpturehas always been
consideredprimarilypictorial,but amongthe
28
paintersonly Reni regularlyproducedfigures
that can be thought of as paintedstatuary.)
The Metropolitan'spicture may even show
an influencein the other direction:Mary's
silhouetteis moreagitatedand irregularthan
that of the immediatelypreviousAssumption
(compare Figures i and i i). The change may
derive from Bernini'sstatue of St. Bibiana,
which had been set up in the churchof that
name during the previousyear (Figure I5).
Nevertheless,the differencesbetween their
Reni'slaterart is iconstylesareconsiderable:
ographicallytraditionaland even iconic;Bernini'sbecameincreasinglynovelanddynamic.
BeforeBernini'smatureworks,the viewerrespondswith an overwhelmingpersonalidentificationwith a religiousevent, whereasReni's
later works evoke no such reaction. Reni's
figures, never sensual, became increasingly
flaccid, impersonal,and removedfrom reality by their grace and unnaturalcolor.
OPPOSITE
12.
TheAssumption
of the Virgin,
from Guido
Reni'sstudio.Finisheds637. Oil on
canvas. Musee des Beaux Arts, Lyons.
Photograph:
Lyons
J. Camponogara,
53. TheAssumption
of the Virgin,by Guido
Reni.Finishedz642. Oil on silk.Alte
Munich.Photograph:
Gabinetto
Pinacothek,
Nazionale,Rome
Fotografico
The historian,noting a surgein the i62os
toward what we now identify as "the baroque," may be tempted to call any other
or "classicizing,"
but this
tendency"classical"
is not a good label for the later Reni. Even
the archbaroquepainter Pietro da Cortona
wasfarmoreconcernedwith archaeologythan
Reni had ever been. The contrast between
Reni'sImmacolata(Figurei) anda sculpture
by a vital artist using truly antique inspiration (Figure 17) makes the point. An intermediate position, parallelwith Reni's, was
taken by Reni's younger compatriot,AlessandroAlgardi.Algardi'sfirst majorwork in
Rome, a Mary Magdalen (Figure I6), shows
the extent of his submissionto Berniniat a
time when his own ideal was still very close
to thatof Reni'sImmacolata;the resemblance
of the heads (Figures i6 and i) is particularly
close.
Looking around the gallery in which the
Museum'sImmaculateConceptionis hung,
we are struck by the relative emptinessof
Reni's large picture,which a numberof art
loversmaytendto equatewith vapidity.Even
in the Bolognesegallerieshis pictureslook
depopulated. Only Reni brought amor vacui
to sucha pitch, and his paintingsare for just
that reasonhighly potent imageswith great
carrying power. The Museum's picture is
painted in what was called by contempoReni's"secondmanner";alrarybiographers
though individualworks in this style were
highly prized it was generally agreed that
Reni'searlierstyle wasbetter.The criticspreferredpaintingsthat seemedto develop the
stylistic heritageof the Carracciand found
it hardto understandReni'slonelysearchfor
ineffableloveliness.Their opinionshave been
echoed ever since-and we may admit that
most of the blood has been squeezedfrom
Reni'sart in this unearthlyphase.From the
29
beginning,Reni'spaintingshad beensuffused
with a graceandelegancethat wasthe despair
of his rivals.Unlike AnnibaleCarracci,who
had made a consciousand successfulstylistic
breakwith the manneriststyle (suchas Calvaert'spaintingin Figure7), Reni neverlost
hisfeelingfor the poetryof themaniera.While
he had accommodatedhimself brilliantlyto
14. The Miracle of St. Gregorythe Great, by Andrea Sacchi
the demandsmadeupon him in Rome, he re(I599-i66I), Italian. i625-i627. Oil on canvas. Pinacoteca, turnedwith obviousreliefto a lessadventureVatican City. Photograph: Anderson- Art ReferenceBureau some artisticmilieu and
ultimatelyproduced
pictureslike the Metropolitan'sthat are his
own versionsof an older tradition.When we
discussReni'scareerfromthispointof view, it
becomesclearthat his laterstyle is the purest
expressionof his individualgenius,the logical
resultof his personalstylisticpredilections.
Reni's growingconcernwith the abstract
aspectsof art and of religiousrepresentation
made him more universalthan many of his
Roman contemporaries,but the timelessness
of his compositionsraisesan aestheticquestion that must be faced.Reni'sreputationfell
fasterand fartherthan that of any other artist, at least in part becauseof the perennial
suitabilityof his devotionalpicturesfor reproductionand worship.His pietisticimages
were loved for their almost hieraticdisplay
of the figurein an easilyunderstoodcomposition.They wereeasyto reproduce,endlessly
copied, and ultimately found their place as
the typicalreligiouschromo.Perhapsno artist
has sufferedso long or so unfairlyfor the crudities of his imitators.Even today one occasionallydiscoversa Harnett-likestilllife nailed
to a wall, made up of a calendar,odd notes,
and a Reni Madonna reproducedin color.
Such broaddevotionalappealilluminatesone
sideof his greatness,but thisdangerousvirtue
should not blind us to the artisticcharacter
of Reni'spaintings.The essenceof his mature
geniusis a uniquelyrefinedhandling,a rarified
coloration,an almost rococo tonality found
only in the originalsthat cannotbe evenminimally investedin the endlesscopiesand variationsthat retaineverythingbut the quality
of Reni'sart.
15. St. Bibiana, by Gianlorenzo Bernini (i598-1680), Italian. 1624-1626. Marble. Sta.
Bibiana, Rome. Photograph:Anderson- Art ReferenceBureau
I6. St. Mary Magdalen, by AlessandroAlgardi (1598-i654),
Italian. About I628. Stucco.
S. Silvestroal Quirinale,Rome. Photograph:GabinettoFotograficoNazionale, Rome
I7.
St. Susanna, by Francesco Duquesnoy (I597-I643), Belgian. I630-I633. Marble.
Madonna di Loreto, Rome. Photograph:Anderson- Art ReferenceBureau
NOTES
AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The essential introductionto the art of this pein
riod is Rudolf Wittkower, Art and Architecture
Italy, I600-I750
(Baltimore, I965). The basic
work on Reni is C. Gnudi and G. C. Cavalli,
Guido Reni (Florence, 1955), but it is far from
complete. I have taken some literary references
to Reni from 0. Kurz, BologneseDrawings... at
WindsorCastle(London,1955).The sameauthor's
article, "Guido Reni" in Jahrbuchder kunsthistorischenSammlungenin Wien, i i (I937), pp.
I89 ff., opened modern criticismand is still indispensable.I am also indebted to Denis Mahon
for a numberof articles,particularly"Poussinau
carrefourdes annees trente" in Nicolas Poussin
(ColloquesInternationaux),I (Paris, I960), pp.
238-263; and Apollo, 82 (I965), pp. 386-390. The
biographyof Reni in C. C. Malvasia,Felsinapittrice.. .., II (Bologna,i678), is the greatcontemporary source of information.Interestingtranslationsof passagesreferringto Reni'speculiarities
are found in R. and M. Wittkower,Born Under
Saturn(London, I963).
I am deeply grateful to Marilyn A. Lavin for
informingme about her discovery of important
documentsin the Barberiniarchiverelatedto the
affairsof Reni. These papersare in the Vatican
Library (Armadio42, CardinalFrancescoBarberini, Mastro di Casa BartolomeoPasserini-z6271631, fol. 38a, December I627: "Alle duifacchini
che han'portatoda Bolognaa Romasoprale spalle
il Quadrodella Concezz[io]ne
di GuidoRenicomo
persuafede v 14-m[one]tacomesi vedeperric[evu]ta,
e cio di paroladel S[igno]rFilomar[in]o."
Armadio
86, CardinalFrancescoBarberini,LibroMastroA,
Ju s T
A S
T H IS
I
ss
U E
1623-1629,
fol. CLXXXIX,
31 December 1627:
"v 14 per portaturad'un quadrodi Guido Reni
fatto portareda facchini da Bologna,comeper le
liste ... ").
W. Buchanan in Memoirs of Painting . . ., I
(London, 1824), refersto an Assumptionby Reni
that is apparently the Metropolitan'sImmacolata. The Immacolatawaspublishedby G. Fiocco
in Arte antica e moderna, I (1958), pp. 388 ff.
(with color reproduction),and has been excellently cataloguedfor the Museum by Federico
Zeri, whose manuscriptI was graciouslyallowed
to consult together with reportsfrom the ConservationDepartment.The Witt Library,Courtauld Institute of Art, London,has a photograph
of the painting before restoration.I am grateful
to Otto Kurz and Denis Mahonfor information
about the picture,andI wasprivilegedto examine
it and discussits conditionand authenticitywith
Mr. Mahonin the MetropolitanMuseum.
For the subjectof the ImmaculateConception,
M. Levi D'Ancona, The Iconographyof the Imin the MiddleAges and Early
maculateConception
Renaissance ([New York], 1957), may be supple-
mented by E. Male, L'Artreligieuxapresle Concile de Trente(Paris, 1932). See also A. B. Jameson,
Legendsof the Madonna (London, 1864), and
Edward D. O'Connor, ed., The Dogma of the
Immaculate Conception (Notre Dame, Indiana,
I958).
For Pulzone,see F. Zeri, Pitturae controriforma
(Turin, 1957).
For Calvaert,see S. Bergmans,Denis Calvart
(AcademieRoyalede Belgique.Classedes BeauxArts, Memoires,IV, 2), (Brussels, I934)
of the Bulletin was going to press, the Museum's Board of
Trustees and staff received with great sadnessthe news of the death of Robert Lehman.
Mr. Lehman was one of the Museum's most active and interested Trustees. Elected
to that post in I94I, he was the Board's Vice-President from I948 to i968 and Chairman of the Board from i967 until his death. Because of his generous contributions,
Mr. Lehman was elected a Benefactor in I949. His many significant gifts include
paintings by Cranach, Tintoretto, and Vuillard. As a member of the PurchasingCommittee and as Visiting Trustee to the Department of European Paintings, Mr. Lehman
was valued as a true connoisseurand advisor. Concerned as well with the administrative aspects of the Museum, Mr. Lehman served on the Finance Committee and the
Executive Committee.
In a statement issued at the time of his death, Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., President,
and Thomas P. F. Hoving, Director, said that Mr. Lehman was "one of the finest
Trustees in the Museum's history, exemplifying enthusiasm and interest in the affairs
of this institution and keen sensitivity and zest in what was perhapshis favorite activity
in life, the collecting of great works of art."
32