beside the easel

Saint Sebastian, 1625 One of the most famous of the Bolognese, Guido Reni was born on November 4, 1575. Although his father Daniele was at the time a respected musician Guido was kind of a black sheep, preferring the brush to the harpsicord, and in his early twenties he joined the famous Carracci school Accademia degli Incamminati . For three years he absorbed the style of his favourite painter, Raphael with the teachings of the school whereupon he went to Rome with Annibale to help out with the Farnese frescos. A man of physically short stature and unassuming features, Reni would soon become a huge figure in the Baroque that would influence countless artists to come. His Saint Sebastian above, one of many Reni painted depicts the saint as youthful and handsome, an innocent victim rather than a martyr. This is a painter's painting. Study the brushstrokes and see how Reni alternates between blending and rough edges, thick highlights with sof transparent shadows, and his use o...