Guido Reni

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting on copper is in very good condition. The copper panel is flat. Although there is a slight diagonal wave across the upper right corner, there has been no instability to the work and very little retouching. There are a few isolated spots of retouching in the sky. There are none in the figures and only half a dozen or so retouches in the stone work around the figures, except in the column on the right side, where the retouching is slightly more numerous.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Guido Reni painted an altarpiece following the same compostion for the church of the Capuchins, Faenza, in 1630; the altarpiece was almost entirely destroyed during bombardments in the Second World War and a fragment, showing only the head of Saint Francis, survived and today remains in the Pinacoteca Comunale in the same town.¹  This previously unpublished copper, of exceptional quality, is a ricordo of the artist’s original, large scale work with certain variations: the canopy has been lowered, the branches of the tree shortened and the upper layer of cloud formations adapted, each to better suit the painting’s smaller format.  Also noteworthy are the minor changes to the figure of Saint Catherine whose face is here tilted fractionally higher, the lock of hair on her left shoulder has been omitted and little finger of her right hand is set apart from the others, in a more stylized gesture. 

The striking yet soft coloration is typical of Guido Reni, contrasting the bright gold and powdery blue of Saint Catherine’s robe, falling in elaborate, shimmering folds, with the dull, heavy fabric of Saint Francis’ cassock.  The figures are beautifully painted, the hair of the Christ Child and the beard, and gently wrinkled forehead of Saint Francis are rendered in delicate, careful strokes and the flesh is modeled with supple plasticity.

 

1.  See D.S. Pepper, Guido Reni: A Complete Catalogue of His Works With an Introductory Text, New York 1984, pp. 262-263, reproduced plate 153.