The Life And Biography Of Guido Reni

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Guido Reni, born in Bologna on November 4, 1575, was the son of Daniele Reni, a musician and singer, and Ginevra Pozzi. He was baptized in the Church of San Lorenzo and attended the Grammar School of Gugliemini in Bologna. His father showed him how to sing and taught him to play the harpsichord and other instruments. Instead of practicing to follow in his father's footsteps, Reni spent his time making sketches and clay figures. It wasn't until Denis Calvaert, a famous Flemish painter, saw some of his drawings and sought out Guido as his apprentice. Guido's father consented to the apprenticeship with one condition - that if he failed to make progress within a certain period, Guido was to return to music.
At the age of 13, Reni was appointed to give instructions to his fellow pupils which won him the respect of his companions and superiors. By the age of 18 he was promoted to the painting of his master's groundworks, composition of small pictures, and started selling his own works. At 20, Reni was one of the first students at the first art academy which was the school of the Carracci. That same year, in 1594, after his father's death, Reni began to make outlines, paint groundworks, and draw from subjects which were assigned him. This was a time where he devoted himself to executing several small religious compositions for the churches and nobles of Bologna. By 1598 Reni left the Carracci academy. This was due to arguments over payments for establishing a pattern for financial obligations, which he would struggle with through the rest of his career.
Reni moved to Rome in 1601, where he devoted himself to drawing and redrawing antique statues, both with pencil and pen. He familiarized himself with the spirit of Greek art. His first...

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...ad “as coolly as a mistress appraising a head of beef.” Reni seems to want to represent that death and cruelty are commonplace among courts and their nobles. Reds and greens were used, emphasized with rich golds. The color fades away from the center, focusing the viewer's attention to Salome.
The story of Salome has been a favorite of painters and has been represented in several ways. Salome was the daughter of Herodias and Herod II, ruler of Galilee. As the story goes, her father had asked her to dance for him at a banquet, promising her anything she asked for in return. Herodias, who was angry with St. John the Baptist for criticizing her marriage, prompted her to ask for St. John the Baptist's head. Herod had imprisoned John for condemning the marriage which violated Mosaic Law. He was afraid to have the prophet killed, but Salome did indeed ask for John's head.

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